A former lawyer, Shravani P.T. is a content writer, editor, poet and author from India. She took to writing at the age of seven, starting with plenty of short stories – mostly in the fantasy and horror genres. Poetry, however, is her preferred mode of expression as it allows her to tune into her inner rebel and still create art she can feel fulfilled by.
Born in an Odia family, to parents working in the government sector, she too (quite by chance) fell into the tried-and-tested path of working for the government early on in her career, before giving it up to follow her true passion – writing. Thereafter, she devoted herself to crafting sellable content for brands and businesses, while still dabbling in poetry and short story writing on the side.
It wasn’t until late 2018 though (bang in the middle of a personal crisis) that she truly woke up to the wonders of poetry in her own healing, as well as her abilities to move a crowd (even if virtual). She single-handedly credits Instagram (and in some measure, Facebook) for helping her connect with countless new faces to share her ideas and creativity with!
From that point on, there has been no looking back and all of the appreciation, collaborations, as well as small and big poetry contests, she’s fervently participated in through the years, have culminated into poetic works she is really proud of.
Shravani’s work has appeared in Mind: A poetry anthology exploring mental health (Kindle Edition), Moist: An Erotic Anthology (ii Publishing, Poetix University), The Conscious Voice of Minds (Buniyaad Publication) and Boundless Feelings (Inkquills Publishing House), among others. A few more anthologies (under ii Publishing, Poetix University) are slated to release soon. The list of upcoming releases also includes her debut collection of multi-themed poems (on love, existentialism, healing and more) titled I Remember Loving You, to be published by BookLeaf Publishing later this year.
Shravani is presently working on two more collections of poems – both on wide-ranging topics – from poetically deconstructing fairy tales and other folklore to demystifying what she understands of faith and the structures created around the same. A true crime and horror movie addict, she aspires to one day create a beautiful body of work weaved around these extremities of her mind. Casting sunflowers on deathly, grisly subjects is truly her style. Except, lizards are not welcome.
Shravani was recently declared the winner at the International Poem Writing Competition by Cherry Book Awards for her English Poem (Almost) Pause: Before and After.
Here is the winning poem:
(Almost) Pause: Before and After
seven days a week
I’d hold the earth in my womb,
and rivers would flow
through the most
obscure patches of my bloom.
feet like jelly,
failing to temper a
tempestuous universe
swelling inside,
stained frocks, muddy skirts,
and bloody bedsheets
with nowhere to hide…
oh, what would I give
to have those days of
lush youth back!
my pale eyes, now battling
hot flashes and
a numb black emptiness,
hips suspended in gravity
where womanhood once
used to thrive.
the blood no longer escapes
my being,
I lean on drips to survive.
men laugh off my anguish with,
“she’s PMSing”
wish I could tell them that
feeling crippled without even
losing a limb or two
is a real thing.
moody and fragile,
bearer of sins, anti-god:
is, perhaps, how they see my
‘icky turmoil’
while I wait for the mirror
to gaze back at me..
so I can dress myself
in some of that scented soil.
One more time.
