Areeb Usmani was building a career as a professional fast bowler when a serious ligament injury brought everything to an abrupt end. In the silence that followed, he found poetry.
In this episode of Rekhta Room, Areeb joins Faisal Fehmi to talk about growing up in Mau and Azamgarh, the literary influences within his family, and the years he spent playing cricket in Lucknow and Mumbai.
He recalls moving to Aligarh, discovering a community of writers at AMU, and gradually finding his own poetic voice.
He also shares the amusing story of mistaking Jaun Elia for John Donne, reflects on reading more than 80 novels during lockdown, and speaks candidly about the effect of social media on contemporary poetry.
The conversation moves through cricket, loss, prose, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and the friendships that shaped him, before concluding with a moving recitation of his poetry.
Rekhta Room, Season 1, Episode 2. Featuring Areeb Usmani. Presented by Rekhta Foundation.
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