{"id":26047,"date":"2016-04-04T14:16:07","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T08:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.entecity.com\/?p=26047"},"modified":"2016-04-04T14:16:07","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T08:46:07","slug":"meera-nair-exclusive-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/meera-nair-exclusive-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Poetry is divine\u2019: Meera Nair Exclusive Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meera Nair is a familiar face in media. Starting with \u2018Fimi Talk\u2019 in Rosebowl to \u2018Better Half\u2019 in Jaihind TV, she has awed us with her gracious and skillful presentation. However, the poet in Meera Nair brought out her multifaceted personality. Read more to know what the city based poet had to share with us.<\/p>\n

\u2018Into writing\u2019<\/h3>\n

\"Meera<\/p>\n

Meera\u2019s stint with writing began during her school days. She had won first prize for short story competition for university youth festival during graduation. \u201cI was active in creative writing during my school and college days. My writings had been featured in school and college magazines and were an active participant in youth festivals. \u00a0I was always involved in writing but never pursued it in a serious way. I even worked as a freelance writer for \u2018The Hindu\u2019 for 4-5 years, so the liaison with writing was always alive. It\u2019s been just two years since I became an active writer. I started publishing my poetry through Facebook and it turned out really well. I started receiving good response from the people and that motivated me to write more. Poetry writing turned out serious when people like Satchidanandan Sir commented on my works\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n

\u2018Turnaround\u2019<\/h3>\n

\u201cMy mom retired as an English teacher from All Saints College. Her poetry classes were so popular among the students. She being a good critic too, my confidence in poetry writing got a major boost as she liked my works. So, all these led me to seriously think about publishing a book. Then I contacted AuthorsPress in New Delhi with 50 of the poems I wrote. Fortunately, they liked my works and I became author of \u2018Grey – Born When Black Invaded White\u2019! Things took a thrilling turn when I was shortlisted for Muse India Young Writers Award. I felt really proud and happy when I was shortlisted for this award with some of the acclaimed writers. The excitement doubled as I was declared the runner-up in poetry section.\u00a0 Then I got the chance to attend the Hyderabad Literary Festival. It was completely a new experience to share the platform with some of the most applauded writers in India\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think poetry attained more importance now. People don\u2019t have the time or patience to read a novel or story. So, I believe relevance of poetry is still intact and budding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018Relevance of poetry\u2019<\/h3>\n

She believes poetry hasn\u2019t lost significance these days. \u201cI think poetry attained more importance now. People don\u2019t have the time or patience to read a novel or story. So, I believe relevance of poetry is still intact and budding. Platforms like social media are a triggering factor in this. We get instants reactions and that really helps in bettering our skills. These instant reactions on Fb have helped me in a great way. Many may call it as narcissism, but I take it as encouragement\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018PoetSthree\u2019<\/h3>\n

\"poetsthree<\/p>\n

Meera and two other poets had a poetry recital session last year at Press Club which drawed wide appreciation from critics and media. \u201cThe recital session was arranged by Gopalakrishnan Sir, one of our faculties in Press Club. He believed that I deserved a bigger platform and that\u2019s how PoetSthree was conducted. My friend Babitha Justin and Shereen were the others featured in the session. The recited poems were based on particular themes. It was a special feeling reciting our poems in front of a refined crowd and media. Such an experience was new for me. The session was well received as such stages for English poets are less here. It had a second season with three new poets where I was part of the coordinating committee. Hope to continue the sessions with new poets\u201d, she adds.<\/p>\n

Novels?<\/h3>\n

\"book\"<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t think I have that kind of patience\u201d, she adds laughingly. \u201cI have a collection of short stories, but that seems to be too short. Poetry comes impulsively for me and it\u2019s always my first love. I\u2019m planning to publish by next set of 50 poems soon. Next step is to find the best publisher for my works. The publishers are a bit conservative when it comes to poetry as they are not bestsellers like fiction; so let\u2019s see\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI prefer serious fiction\u201d<\/h3>\n

A good writer will be an ardent reader too. \u201cI don\u2019t read for the sake of gaining knowledge. Reading makes me feel relaxed and happy. I just finished reading Osho\u2019s \u2018Beloved\u2019 and moved on to Angela Carter\u2019s collection of short stories\u201d.<\/p>\n

I find Facebook as a liberating experience. It\u2019s a stage where I express my feelings without any censorship.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018Social media\u2019<\/h3>\n

Social media has become one of the most powerful tools for the people these days. She has her own stand about it. \u201cI find Facebook as a liberating experience. It\u2019s a stage where I express my feelings without any censorship. I was gifted many good relations through my poems and stands there. It even strengthened my relation with some of the old friends with whom I had superficial relation. I use Facebook from my home or office computers only; my phone is entirely detached from the world of internet. In a way, I can be termed as social addict\u201d, she adds.<\/p>\n

She is not bothered about the criticism she receives for some of the posts. \u201cIt\u2019s the matter of perception. Many are skeptical about my posts and have raised opinion that I shouldn\u2019t share my personal things on my timeline and all. Well, I don\u2019t find anything wrong at all\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018Journalism\u2019<\/h3>\n

Meera\u2019s interest in journalism can be attributed to her panache for writing. \u201cAs I mentioned, I used to freelance for \u2018The Hindu\u2019. Writing for supplements like Metro Plus gave enough exposure. Career in visual media started in Amrita TV and later moved to Rosebowl. My relation with media was always lively even though I didn\u2019t opt for a fulltime journalistic career. I loved doing interviews as it helped to know more about eminent personalities and their words and views imparted lot of knowledge in me. The experiences in media kept the journalistic fire in me intact. That\u2019s when I heard about the Condensed Batch in Press Club and tried for it. It was totally an awe-inspiring experience to attend the classes by working journalists. The ambience of the institute and dedicated batch mates presented a completely fresh experience\u201d.\u00a0 She passed out as the first rank holder of 2014-2015 condensed batch.<\/p>\n

I loved doing interviews as it helped to know more about eminent personalities and their words and views imparted lot of knowledge in me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0\u2018Media career\u2019<\/h3>\n

She is currently working as Manager, Corporate Affairs in Jaihind TV. \u201cPrior to that I was teaching in Asian School of Business (ASB). Maybe the experience in media and Press Club inspired me to take up a fulltime media career\u201d. She is at the helm of \u2018Better Half\u2019, one of the most rated programmes in the channel. \u201cThe programme just completed 50 episodes. It has been exciting to meet 50 new women, 50 new houses; from pre-production to post-production, the journey has been quite elating. It gives a sense of delight to bring out the hidden talents of the wives of renowned personalities. Freedom and space tops the list of my priorities in a workspace and I\u2019m very much enjoying my career here\u201d, she adds.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Hobbies?<\/h3>\n

\"dance\"<\/p>\n

She used to participate actively in dance competitions during school and college days. She also had public performances in the past. \u201cI\u2019m currently practicing Mohiniyattom under Uma Tapasyananda. I did my arangettam years back, hope to have a re-entry by coming January. Back to dancing is giving me immense joy. I like travelling too, but not getting enough time in between these busy schedules. Currently, enjoying the journeys related to my programme now\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n

\u2018Family is a bliss\u2019<\/h3>\n

\"fam\"<\/p>\n

Her husband Arun works in askme.com. She is blessed with two beautiful and energetic kids, Aditya and Advaith. She lives with her family in Vattiyoorkavu. \u201cMy dad retired from Reliance as Vice President, Corporate Affairs. As said, mom was an English teacher. My kids are my best friends. We share a very jovial relation. Arun dons the role of \u2018strict\u2019 parent among us. I love being very friendly to them. I don\u2019t know what effect that will have in future, but I really enjoy it. The support my mom is enormous. She takes care of the household affairs when I\u2019m out for shoot or dance class. She handles it excellently so that I\u2019m able to execute my schedules aptly. Since mine being a 10-5 job, my kids doesn\u2019t miss their best friend\u201d, she says proudly.<\/p>\n

Future plans?<\/h3>\n

\u201cPublishing my new book tops the immediate list of plans. Other than that I like to go ahead with dance and Better Half. One of my short stories \u2018Virgin\u2019 has been made into a short film. The release hasn\u2019t been fixed as the team plans to send it to some of the short film festivals\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n

90% of my life\u2019s memories belong in Trivandrum. It\u2019s a slow paced city, everyone are so relaxed and leads a peaceful life; it\u2019s a charmed life when we see from outside.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Scripting?<\/h3>\n

\u201cEven though I watch movies, I\u2019m not a film buff. Haven\u2019t tried my hand in scripting, so not sure about it. As of now I\u2019m happy with poetry and short stories\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018EnteCity\u2019<\/h3>\n

\u201c90% of my life\u2019s memories belong in Trivandrum. It\u2019s a slow paced city, everyone are so relaxed and leads a peaceful life; it\u2019s a charmed life when we see from outside. The greenery, heritage buildings, water, all these make it a very charismatic city. As many say, it\u2019s a \u2018Picture Postcard City\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meera Nair is a familiar face in media. Starting with \u2018Fimi Talk\u2019 in Rosebowl to \u2018Better Half\u2019 in Jaihind TV, she has awed us with her gracious and skillful presentation. However, the poet in Meera Nair brought out her multifaceted personality. Read more to know what the city based poet had to share with us. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entecity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}