Daljit Nagra at the British Council on Friday

A prize-winning writer from the UK of Indian origin from West London. Won several prizes with his debut book. Punjabi, actually. Youngish. Tries to write in Indianness into his British context.

You groan — one more of those, you think, explaining the “nuances” of Indian culture to the English-speaking world and getting world tours out of it. But meeting Daljit Nagra of Look We Have Coming to Dover! fame is a bit of a surprise.

First, he is a poet, when almost every one else is a fiction-writer. Second, Nagra, in town during the weekend to judge a ‘Hinglish” and “Benglish” poetry contest, does write about arranged marriages, but also about a friend’s funeral, movingly. Three, he writes in “Punglish”, which could have been just gimmicky, but it is robust, exuberant and genuinely funny at times — and sometimes quite poetic. “…every night, though by day/ we work factory-hard, she always/ have disco of drumstick in pot./ Hot. Waiting for me.” He also writes: “A right savage I was — sozzled/ to the nose with sprightly/ Muldoon, squeezed into the communal/ sweat of a Saturday tube home —/ I’m up to p. 388 of his lemon-skinned/ Collected Poems…”

Muldoon and Southall can coexist.

Four, he is a schoolteacher who teaches English.

The book came out in 2007 and won several prizes, including the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection and the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize for Best Single Entry.

But do writers of Indian/African origin have to write arrestingly, “differently”? Can’t they write something quiet? Nagra says it is a matter that is being looked into seriously. It is strange, he agrees, why there aren’t too many like him, since 10 to 15 per cent of the British population is of Indian and African origin. Britishers get away with writing “neat, clear poetry”. The Indian writer has to offer something extra.

The British Council plays a short video clip of Nagra talking about his poetry. There, he is using the “intonations” that he speaks of: sing-songing “Look We have Coming to Dover”. He is “performing” his poetry. As one watches him, one feels sad. His poems are much better when read.

Stamp of approval

the stamp which reads “Dussehra Kolkata”. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Is Durga puja the same as Dussehra? Or equivalent to Kali puja? A stamp brought out by the department of posts is confusing.

The stamp, featuring Mahishasuramardini Durga and priced at Rs 5, is part of a three-issue series on Festivals of India. But the caption reads “Dussehra, Kolkata”. Yeah, you read that right. In both Hindi and English. But if you look hard, you will find “Durga Puja” in small print in the right.

The secretary of the Indian Philatelic Traders’ Association, Kalyan Negal, confirms this is the first time a stamp has named Durga puja. “Other than a 2005 Children’s Day stamp featuring Durga puja immersion, all we had were an imprint of a dhaki on a postal department greetings card, a Meghdoot post card and an inland letter brought out decades ago.”

But did Durga puja need Dussehra as the crutch to make it past the red tape in New Delhi? And why are the authors of the information booklet that came with the new release so careless? It reads: “In Bengal, the festival is celebrated as Kali Puja or Durga Puja…In the nine-day-long celebration of Durga Puja, goddess Durga is worshipped in different forms like as goddess of valour, wisdom and wealth…”