If you’re the kind who wrote poetry instead of balanced equations in your answer sheet, you’ve probably tried your hand at a haiku. You may ask, haiku kaiku? This Japanese poem form of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world, is enjoyable even when your schedule is densely packed. And now there is an app — HaikuJAM — to help you get your daily fix. 

With users across 126 countries, some Calcutta-based HaikuJAMmers decided to meet up outside the app in Cafe Coffee Day on Lake Road for an evening of haiku and coffee. Incidentally, Coffee was also a haiku featured in Calcutta’s first HaikuJAM meeting. It goes: 

Meeting him today/ My very first Tinder date/ Last minute mirror-check.

t2 caught up later with Delhi boy Neer Sharma, one of the founders... 

How did the idea of a haiku app strike you?
The idea came from Dhrupad Karwa, HaikuJAM CEO. While at university, he sat in a tea shop with a friend feeling low, as a previous start-up attempt had not worked out. To pass time, he wrote a line of poetry in his journal and passed it on to his friend to add the next line. They carried on doing this — it was fun and therapeutic. Dhru was intrigued and inspired to see how the expressions evolved from person to person. 

With HaikuJAM, we wanted to make an app where people could quickly and easily create with others around the world.
Haiku as a medium also lends itself very well to mobile phones for it is bite-sized, elegant and very simple.

t2 gives haiku a shot:
Poems over shorts?
This app is your new notepad
Now you’ll get zilch done!

What has been the response to the app so far?
We officially launched the app in March 2015 and the response has been great. Every 10 seconds, a new line of poetry is being written and the average HaikuJAM user spends over 30 minutes on the app daily. HaikuJAM is evolving into this amazing, positive community where people can truly connect and express themselves without feeling judged. The community is also very diverse: there are poets, students and other professionals who simply want to rekindle their creative skills. 

We have also had a lot of interest from brands wanting to work with the HaikuJAM community. Companies such as Tinder, Ginger Hotels, Good Knight, Bloomsbury India and more have sponsored competitions in our app. 

How do you decide which haikus are displayed on the website?
Every day, the HaikuJAM team reads through all of the content being created in the app and we select those JAMs that we feel will resonate most with the community. 

How many countries has the app connected?
HaikuJAM has users from 126 countries. The majority of jammers are from India, US, UK, Philippines and Europe.

You guys apparently interact with your users a lot. Was that something all of you decided to do to make it more like a fraternity? 
Yes! We have calls from our users, meet up for coffees, organise dinners, depending on whichever city we happen to be in. When people create collaboratively, they forge deep and meaningful connections. We’ve seen so many wonderful friendships emerge through the platform. We’ve also made so many friends through the app! It is a place where people feel free to express, connect, unwind and get back in touch with their creativity. People are passionate about the app and help spread the word to their friends.   

Tried your hand at haiku? Share your best one at t2@abp.in