Meet Sanjana Kumar: The Cold Air Taking YourQuote by Storm.
Our writer Pooja Arora interviews the quirky and vibrant writer, whose romanticism with Autumn and nostalgia is truly contagious.
Describe yourself in about 250 words — Imagine writing a tiny autobiography.
I am bad at introductions and this seems to be the scenario with other, slightly lost, earthbound, awkward mortals, the ones, grappling with the notions of “over sharing” and coming off as “too awkward”.
As a summer kid, a younger, more cheerful version of who I am today, I loved summers until my twisted brain began attaching its own weirdly romantic, slightly nostalgic aspects to winters. But, devoid of snowfall, maybe winters are overrated?! Autumn seemed like a quick fix solution to everything, a perfect balance and being a Calcuttan, I can say that Autumn comes with its own charm and you’ll understand exactly what I mean if you have the slightest of ideas about the session of Autumn festivities here.
I’d like to owe my severely scattered thoughts and my extremely weird deductions to my sun sign- Gemini. Basically, being a Gemini is a big part of who I am, someone who is dealing with constant paradoxical terms in my own head 24/7 and yes, I’m serious when I say “24/7”. I’m partially insomniac.
I’m a walking, brooding, self-imposed paradox. I love bougainvilleas (orange ones! They’re super rare!), I love coffee. I deal with numbers, opportunity costs, unemployment issues and when not typing out or inking about nostalgia, love, midnights, autumn clouds or evening lights, I read, read, read a lot. I obsess and daydream over alternate universes where bars serve Butterbeers and Mockingjays are aplenty. I sing, I dance, I be awkward. That’s a lot for someone as awkward as me, but yeah, this should be a rough overview.
For someone who claims to be an “awkward mortal”, this is definitely one hell of an introduction. So, let’s start with awkward. what’s the most #awkward thing you have ever done in your life?
Oh, you should see me around actual humans and not just the ones popping out of my screens. You should definitely see me trying to get past the multilayered judgement system in my own head around walking, talking, other fellow mortals. It’s entertaining to watch me grasp for proper words for respective situations, if you’re not the one I’m supposed to respond to. You’d hate me, then.
Anyway, it is probably a no brainer that I’ve spent my entire life being awkward. So, I can’t really declare a winner from among those precious moments! But, I leaving get-togethers or parties randomly (because I just depleted my social energy level) is a rather recurring incident. But I’m sure I’d have more gems in my collection. I just don’t particularly remember any. XD.
Haha, okay definitely awkward. Tell us about the story behind your pen name “the cold air.”
When I started writing on the YourQuote app, a part of me wanted to use my own name instead of a pen name. But I’ve been a bit too much under confident in that respect, for my own liking. And honestly, there isn’t much thought behind this name. It’s basically from the particular phrase “out in the cold air”, frequently seen. Must’ve come across it while reading some book at that time. It stuck with me for some reason. Maybe because it’s always interesting to indulge in what the cool night air has to offer, I suppose.
Although I have never been to Calcutta but it does appear as this nostalgic place where past coexists with the present poetically. How did being a Calcuttan influence your writing?
The past and the present have indeed the most beautiful mélange of nuances in here, in my city.
And well, every aspect of my surrounding influences my perception, perspective and hence my writing. So, starting from the yellow cabs, the sky blue and yellow buses, the grey clouds above the historical monuments, the green grass below to the morning laziness, the tramways and the intellectual conversations over a cup of masala tea, every single thing and its flavour always sneaks into my mind and my words. It is inevitable.
Wow, it’s almost as if I lived your entire city in the past few sentences. Also, the readers would love for you to give a sneak peek into the Kolkattan festivities that color the fall in their own flavour? (maybe along with some pictures)
I could and definitely would love to engage the readers with pictures of how autumn is characterized by the “kaash phool”(a variety of grass characterized by white flowers, the harbinger of the falls here),or of how the silt rich clay from the Ganga is moulded into the supreme Goddess Durga and her family, the determination of the artists’ faces as they blacken the irises, curl her tresses and robe her body with love and adoration, or how every street, every nook is strewn with fairy lights in every possible hue and how every market is buzzing with people for new clothes and matching jewellery..(I could really just go on and on!).
But it wouldn’t be half as fun as physically standing under the lit up streets and watching the crowd around you chanting Sanskrit mantras to ask for their Mothers’ blessings. You’ll love walking over fallen yellow leaves and soaking in every air particle that speaks.
With such imagery, who wouldn’t fall for “The Fall”? As you love autumn season, give an ode to your favourite season in a few lines.
I posted a piece on YourQuote a few days back. This transition season, you know, between late autumn and early winters is specially full of wonders.
Late Autumn
The mosaic floor of the roof is a mess, I tell you.
Broken twigs of plants, of varying sizes and at varying stages of death.
Some of these belong to the plants I water,
some to the bigger ones at the beginning of the alley.
The crows must’ve brought it.
This early winter has a weird aura to it, you see.
There are these migratory birds too,
a bit of yellow on the head, a bit of red near the nose.
Some that sound like pigeons, some that look like house sparrows.
And you, you haven’t been home in long.
You won’t be home for a while too.
So, I’ll tell you about the late autumn orange skies and the ochre leafy falls here.
About the early winter winds and the red-eyed cuckoo, frantically waiting for spring.
Something simple, but very close to my heart.
Mesmerizing, indeed! I see you do believe in sun-signs. How aptly do you think that they can depict someone’s personality or lifestyle patterns?
Haha. Call me old fashioned, but I have reasons. Actually, one of my closest friends and I share our birthday. Same year, apart by 12 hours. And even before we knew this, we hit it off extremely well. In fact she’s my oldest friend. I couldn’t help but falling for the sun sign depictions. We actually found that our similar traits were tallying with our sun-sign traits, Gemini. So, yeah.
Though I’ve seen empirical evidence enough, I don’t exactly know if they govern one’s personality and lifestyle patterns. It sure does play some subtle role, if we are to treat astrology as an ancient science. But,I strongly believe personality and lifestyle is an equal-blame amalgamation of choice and experiences. One’s destiny is majorly in one’s own hands(as cliché as it sounds), even if there are other apparent subtle factors at play.
A self imposed paradox? What’s the most difficult dilemma have you ever faced with this trait of yours?
I’ve constantly been getting comments about how I can be so lost and morbid one moment and vivacious and talkative the next .But, for me, it really depends on the set of people I’m associating with. And although, there isn’t any particular instance I can pinpoint, again, maybe the most difficult dilemmas I face are how I choose my words depending on people and whether or not to let my guard down. As for the not so serious ones, the most common and stupid one being, choosing the amount of sugar in my coffee.
Dealing with hard, cold numbers, what inspires you to write about “love, midnights, autumn clouds and evening lights”?
Well, the most poetic answer would be, precisely the absence of it all! *laughs alone*
And a serious answer, I really don’t know. Numbers are also a form of language, I suppose. Working with one form creates inspiration for actual words, maybe! In any case, midnights and autumn clouds are romantic enough in themselves!
Agreed. What is muse to you? What is your biggest muse?
For me, a muse is the moving force behind your art. Any art. The major driving force which moves your thoughts into words, emotions into a melody, maybe a memory and its nuances into movements, mindsets into colours and textures. Anything.
Anything can indeed be a muse, a person, a memory, a figment of your imagination, a distant memory, a recurring tune. My biggest muse is perhaps the mundane in the nature.
As an avid reader, which books have changed your life? And as a person deep rooted in nostalgia, which books do you love going back to again and again?
Life of Pi by Yann Martel has had a weird impact. The first time I read it, it seemed almost too vague. Second time and it blew me away. Other than this, The Hungry Tide by Amitava Ghosh and Looking for Alaska by John Green have been huge game turners for me, on a deep personal front.
As a kid, I’ve so been in love with the Nancy Drew series, I’m not even ashamed I still reread a few paragraphs or dialogues.Some scenes from Silence Of The Lambs by Thomas Harris never fail to give me the chills. Probably the best thriller I’ve ever read. For me nostalgia and the Feluda detective series by Satyajit Ray are almost synonymous in a literary sense. I’ll never not be obsessed with the little details, the familiar scent of locations through the pages.
These are few of the many books I keep going back to. Also, Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Oh my. I could really keep talking. Certain books just get me so excited. Oh, I shouldn’t forget the classics specially Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, of course! And The Clifton Chronicles (7 book series) by Jeffrey Archer. Too close to my heart, this one is! (Not even starting about Harry Potter or The Hunger Games).
Wow, some major goals you have set for us bibliophiles.
When did you start writing and how did your journey with YourQuote begin?
Writing has always been a constant. I don’t even remember for sure, but probably at about age 6 when I started keeping my personal diary. You know, writing about how my toothpaste tasted disgusting or how my teacher said that my handwriting was too bad. Since then, writing has been an escape, a hobby and more, doing it for articles in the school magazine, essays and projects.
I only wrote my first ever poem at the age of 16 and I hate it now. Poetry put things in a whole new light for me and I started indulging more and more and somewhere around that time, I came across YourQuote on Google Playstore. The rest is history and a fairy tale.
Who are your favorite writers on YourQuote?
Tough one. Almost unfair!
JM Paloma and Diwa, apart from being magical in their usage of words are inspirations for much more than just that. These are two most special people I’ve had the privilege of ‘meeting’ at YQ. Not only my favorite writers, these are my favorite people on the app and their presence is much more to me than just what is restricted to YQ.
Then you, Kef Amaya, you had me at your username and your words next, that speak to every heart reading. Your piece “Am I a Good Girl Now, Mother?” is truly, an inspiration,an experience.Thank you for writing and sharing it.
Shalini Guchhait, I’ve always been in awe of her subtle creativity. Sowmya Peri, Navoneil Bhattacharya, Harsh Snehanshu, Bharat Divakar, Shantanu Anand, Ananya Mallya, Lisa Mandal, Mariyam Saigal to name a few, are my biggest inspirations. I’ve learnt a lot from their words and their tones.
Namoos, Bithilka Halder, Sudhir Bhadra, Argha Goswami, Janani Sree, Vidhyaa, Payel Dutta and Philomina Neerudu are some people who can never stop surprising me with their imagination and beauty in their words and every thought.
Truth be told, there are many more I could name and I’m probably forgetting some major gems here. But each writer on YQ has so much to offer. Each writer and their own perspectives. That’s the beauty of YQ, I suppose.
Seconded. And thank you for this grand mention.
What is your most favorite possession? (write a few lines about it and hopefully with a photo)
There isn’t perhaps any particular physical object that is a prized possession to me. I attach minute and intricate details and memories to about any object, a certain background story. So yeah, it’s almost unfair to call any object a favorite.
Share a piece (or an excerpt) that you have written and are extremely proud of?
It’s only recently that I’ve started to take a liking to my won poetry more confidently. I’ll share this one recent piece that I wrote based on a prompt by Airplane Poetry Movement.
Hope is Wearing New Shoes Today -Sanjana Kumar (The Cold air)
Where the footprints disappeared, I’ll tell you there was a burgundy carpet.
I could have sworn, I could count six identical hardened mud cakes; impressions.
There goes all hope, down the French window, smashed glass, thrashed roses from the market.
Left a fine piece of fabric too, a worn off shoe sole; dented mud impressions.
At noon, I saw her, braving the storm, her face was veiled; you wouldn’t call her beautiful.
She looked worn out, a Vagabond, missing her bed in a tree house far south.
Today too, her face, I saw, was veiled; her head bowed down at the altar; rather shameful.
Hope, a four lettered word; she’d killed it’s metaphors ;she’d let it froth at its mouth. (An excerpt)
Undoubtedly, deserves a win! Congratulations.
Before we call it a day, any piece of advice for the new crop of writers and your readers?
I’ve myself come across so many advices as a beginner and even now constructive criticism is always welcome. So, from my own experience, don’t just listen to what anyone else is advising you even if you admire their work. Different people indulge different perspectives.
But, Read. Read. Read. Read a lot.This is a universal advice.
Read. Observe. Listen to your heart. Write. It won’t be appreciated all the time, but more the writing, more the practice of putting thoughts into words and better the images in words, the better you’d become. Take time. Write and read your own words aloud. Editing is a big part of writing too. Keep your ears, eyes and heart open. Grasp every opportunity, experience every emotion, listen to everyone, observe. Makes you a better person and a better writer.
Thank you Pooja, so much, for providing me this scope for a sort of self reflection through this interview. All my love, Sanjana Kumar.
Read more of Sanjana’s work here.
