I heard his words as a child,
And I converted words to notes,
The mellifluous notes flowed on,
But my song was not complete.

For this journey,
Had just begun,
Flipping through pages,
Remembering words.

Looking,
Watching,
Yearning,
Hearing.

And then the aroma,
The ink on paper,
The ink on my mind.

The pages written,
The words completed,
His words heard again,
The child in me.

I grew up in an atmosphere of culture. My father was from Shanti Niketan and my mother a lecturer in English. So there would be long poetry and literary sessions in the house, listening to Tagore, Shelley, Keats, Tennyson and Byron and listening to Rabindra Sangeet, Mozart, Beethoven, among others.

My journey with poetry began with my album Electric and in that connection the Vice Chairman of TOI, Mr. Samir Jain, inspired me to take the first step. It was one of those days when we were having lunch at his home. He walked towards me and asked me whether I had read Rumi and suggested I had better do so. The next thing I know was that I got hold of the book of poems of Jalaluddin Rumi and after that I never looked back.

Coincidentally, Ankur called me and asked me to write my own lyrics for Electric. That was my entry to the world of rhythm and words. My first poem gave birth to the first song of Electric called "Life Ek Game Hai" and it led me to the first book of poems published by Rupa and Co, "I have seen that Face Before".

It was a very happy time for me. I got my freedom of expression and talked about my inner self. My second book of poems was launched in 2007 by renowned lyricist and adman Prasoon Joshi and was called "Close Every Door", while my first book was launched dramatically by none other than the legendary actor Om Puri.

View photos here