Summary:
KOCHI: Poetry has never been mainstream in the state and there have been very few attempts to make it appeal to a wider audience through public projects. I love it,” said Smitha Nair, a poetry enthusiast. The inspiring lines of Malayalam poetry’s classical triumvirate: Asan, Ulloor and Vallathol have also made their way to the poetry showcase.“I have commuted using the Metro but missed this totally,” said Meena Divakar, who runs Circuit Creative, a space for curated books and poetry events at Panampilly Nagar. Many might have missed on it because Metro stations are places where you rush through to get to the office or back home but for those who have the eye there is enough to pause and reflect on goddess Muse.“I think it is brilliant and makes the space more accommodative. Kochi Metro silently made a break with it when they chose to adorn its station walls with memorable lines of poetry to create a space that inspires commuters.There is no other institution like Kochi Metro that has done so much to promote poetry in the city and part of the credit should go to one man: Elias George, who was at the helm of Kochi Metro Rail Limited when the project was commissioned, and his passion for literature.I was inspired by the London underground, which began featuring poetry on posters and billboards in the tube in 1986,” said George, who is currently a consultant with KPMG in Delhi.While most of the poetry quotes are classical – you would find lines from Queen Victoria’s poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson and the metaphysical John Donne – the station at Aluva features the post-modernist American poet Charles Simic: “For knowledge add, for wisdom, takeaway”..