1. Please tell us about yourself. Childhood/School/University?

a) I was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India. I grew up in a genial atmosphere where music, poetry, good family values flowed. My mother’s memories always bring with them lilting notes and her open sweeping voice. My father recited Ghalib, Zaq, Mir with such a profound involvement that he almost forgot his audience, every time! I enjoyed their moments of glory at the frequent large family weddings. All my siblings have had the ear and voice for music.

b) I did my schooling in Amritsar. Later, for higher studies, I went to St. Bede’s College in Shimla in Northern India. I loved the hill station and my college. I did my Teacher’s Training from there, did a very short stint in teaching at the Convent of Jesus & Mary in Dehradun. I was not nineteen when I got married.

2. How did your life take a turn after marriage?

Marriage for everyone is a big turn. In my case, marriage introduced me to a whole new world of travel. I sailed with my husband, Ved, as a supernumerary on board the ship. We made a few voyages, and it was an exciting, carefree period of our lives. As a supernumerary and being the wife of a Chief Engineer, I got ample opportunity to see parts of Japan, America, India. We were on cargo ships and got fairly long duration of stays ashore, when the vessel anchored to pick up cargo, or unloaded cargo. At that time i.e. in the mid 60’s the concept of containers and swift mechanical devices was not in the advanced mode as now. The chance to travel increased even more after we came ashore to start our business in Mumbai. Travel sowed the seeds in me to go to museums and gain interest and knowledge in inter-cultures. This was habit-forming which quickly converted me into a serious art-collector.

3. When did you start writing poems? Was it a hobby? In how many languages do you write?

I began writing poems around 1990. I can’t really say that I had any ‘plan’ to make poetry-writing as my hobby. Formalities of that sort did not arise at all, in my case. It was a curious blend of sorts which is hard for me to really explain. Only my poems retain the proof that I began writing in the 1990’s! I write in Punjabi, Hindi and also in Urdu. But, that’s little in different degrees.

4. How did you build that passion?

It is God given. I believe nothing comes to you without that Cosmic Power. This is of course my personal belief in the limitless faith I have in God Almighty. Side by side, I built my passion to write my poems with unsuppressed frankness and long hours with my pen. Typically, now I can spend 6 to 8 hours a day writing not only in poetic form but also in prose form. Whatever I borrow from my own experiences and put interaction with various people, I put it in my site www.geetachhabra.com. That’s how I keep building the passion you asked me about, Gopika.

In my case it came like a free vision. I don’t know what happened but it was out of control. Watching a sun-set-scene in Dubai one evening, quick rhyme organized the marvelous picture I was seeing. I quickly grabbed the pen, pencil out of my clutch bag and wrote what came in my head – and that’s how the first poem was born out of me to build the passion. One poem led to another and to another. Initially, I had suspicion that there would be no ‘next’ poem by me for me. But, my brain was enjoying special privileges with my heart! At some length, I realized that I was addicted to poetry.

5. In your opinion, which of these is important for writing poetry – command over the language, imagination, emotions, experiences etc?

Gopika, this is not only an interesting question, it is a tricky question, as well. We are talking here about language, imagination, emotions, experiences which of these supercede each other in making a good poem. I think, all four of them are joint creators in making a poem, worthwhile. The way I see it, experiences trigger emotions; emotions-spontaneity is translated by the elegance of language; and imagination is supervising the whole act between the pen and the poet.

6. Can somebody be trained to write poems?

Gopika, my own mind says that there is a part in us which can be trained to write poetry; there is also a part in us which can never ever be trained, as such, to write poetry. In other words, to a very large extent, either you have it or you don’t have it in you to write poetry. It is pretty much like being a doctor versus a writer, or a diplomat versus a lawyer. Someone who has an inclination to write poetry can get useful training to make his creative style and work better and be more purposeful through a good guide, no doubt.

7. How important is a mentor to encourage writing poems? Did you have one?

Yes, I was fortunate to have Nissim Ezekiel as my mentor. Nissim Ezekiel gifted me a belief-system to write and secure my thoughts further and further. His words of sincere advice will continue to enrich my spirit to write. Nissim Ezekiel, as you know, played centre-stage in inaugurating the Modernist movement/style in Indian poetry in English. On his death, in 2004, The Independent, of London gave him an appropriate tribute by calling him: a poet’s poet.

You see, a true mentor’s vision is very large. By his own wealth of experience, by his own creed, in his own way, a mentor’s optimism, even frank utterances can encourage a student, tremendously. From this form of education, the student can get into the evolving mode.

From my own personal case, I can say this.

8. How did you happen to meet Nissim Ezekiel?

Before I met Professor Nissim Ezekiel, I already possessed almost a hundred poems of mine to show the learned, reputed Professor. I was composing poems and stacking them up almost in secret. I did not have the guts to show them to anyone. Both my daughters, Vibha and Vrinda thought my style was good, because I used to read them out to them and to my husband. Then, when I had gone to Strand Book Shop of Mumbai, the good owner, Mr. Shanbaugh readily suggested that I should see Nissim Ezekiel. I showed my poems to him and he liked them. For the next two years, I spent hours on a regular basis, with Nissim Ezekiel at the P.E.N. Centre of Mumbai, where we discussed my poems. For short breaks, we both would go across the road to a restaurant and he would love to eat Shrikhand there!

9. In what way did he help you to mature as a poet?

In his own gentle way, Nissim Ezekiel taught me far more than I thought, then. He taught me to fly! As I said earlier, I had lot of poems to show Nissim Ezekiel when I met him. Before he proceeded to my next poem, we would break into long and short discussions on different aspects of poetry. He said, he had no liking for poems which were ‘forced’. In the general order of things, he was someone who showed me to have the same faith in my own work that he had in my style of writing.

10. You have recently released a poem collection titled – An Indian Ode To The Emirates. How was it conceived and how long did you take to complete it?

An Indian Ode To The Emirates has been put together with the bi-lingual concept supported with photographs specifically related with UAE. This book celebrates the 40 years of the UAE’s Union. The concept is quite wonderful; my 40 poems in English are translated into the Arabic by the well-known Poet/Translator Dr. Shihab Ghanem. The forty-poems-idea came from Mr. Ian Fairservice of Motivate Publishing. The book describes my sentiments as a long term resident of UAE. I am very sure some of the same sentiments run in the veins of other long term residents who have made UAE into their second home.

There is no doubt that history’s stories between India and UAE have leveraged a strong impact on me, the sort that I can clearly trace from my childhood days. I am definitely attached to my “second home” Dubai. The desert fascinates me, too, in many ways. The rain, here, makes me nostalgic for my motherland and Mumbai. An Indian Ode To The Emirates is dedicated to the everlasting ties between India and UAE.

I feel my book: An Indian Ode To The Emirates represents the feelings of all expatriates, no matter from which country they are coming from or which nationality they belong to. People of diverse backgrounds have come to Dubai, seeking their dreams, outlets for better lives. My book is the expression of masses. My book highlights the crucial importance of peace and brotherhood which is the heart and lungs of our shared planet. The book is the greatest gift I have given to myself and this gift I want to share with everyone.

11. Is it based (the book) on the historical relations between the two countries or on your personal experiences?

An Indian Ode To The Emirates is based on the influences of the historical relations between both the countries i.e. India and UAE. Our cultures are similar in many ways. Our social values are similar in so many ways. Our ties have always been friendly, very cordial with good understanding. I love that. So some of my poems describe those perceptions. Poems are always personal. The sad poems were the outcome of certain personal turbulences. I think, turbulence sometimes proves to be durable in bringing out pure emotions that are lying asleep or dormant. This must have exactly happened to me to bring out this book. I was so charged with serious sentiment that the long drawn experience of struggle, pain, loss: spurred me to start planning the book. My daughter, Vibha Bakshi's professional support and natural love also played a big role for the book to be born. By this time, Dr. Shihab Ghanem had noticed my poems and sent his translated version to well-known literary journals like Al Bayan, Al Ittihad, Al Khaleej Cultrual Supplement, Al Thaqafiah. I am indebted to so many really who stood by my side, including Dr. Shihab Ghanem.

12. How did you collaborate with Dr. Shihab Ghanem, a well-known Emirati poet, to translate the work?

That was also a happy co-incidence that took place without any effort. My husband got Dr. Shihab Ghanem’s name out of a news clipping of a newspaper. We phoned Dr. Shihab Ghanem and met up over a lunch. I showed a few of my poems to him and the process of our association began. Whatever Dr. Shihab Ghanem translated out of my creative work, I was lucky, the literary authorities promptly printed. I will miss him at the book launch on the 27th March as he will be in Qatar.

13. What reception has the book received from the Emirati literary circles?

The book is being launched on the 27th March. The very initial feedback is excellent. I am very happy that way Motivate Publishing has turned out the book. The Emirati literary circles should like it because it is unique and a product of love, and cultural ties between India and UAE. It is not a book about “a poet”. The book belongs to India and UAE, entirely. That’s the way, I feel about An Indian Ode To The Emirates.

14. How has writing influenced you as a person?

I began composing verse in 1990’s. Writing achieves in putting my heart’s message in words to my readers (which I started in 2010 www.geetachhabra.com). I am prompted by some kind of inner vigour, by delight, even though most of my poems can be full of sorrow and strife. My prose-pieces are somber. The delight is the outcome, when I feel, I have conveyed the truth from my side. Because, the full expression of my writing is often born through the wisdom gathered from other people’s lives, that process matures me again and again. It is a continual process, I feel. There is constant involvement and evolvement. I think for me writing has turned into a serious responsibility.

15. Who is your favourite poet and why?

I have no “favourite-favourite” poet; as such, in school, we had Shakespeare, Keats, Wordsworth, Byron. They are all so great! I like Nissim Ezekiel’s poems, too. They deliver vivid depictions. I can read Ezekiel’s “Very Indian Poems in Indian English”, over and over again. They are so real, so hilarious. I wish, he had written more of those.

16. Do you agree with the perception that habits like reading & writing are waning in the age of electronic media?

Writing is not waning and neither is reading, for that matter. Books have been replaced by modern gadgets of inventions. This is an ongoing way of: Progress. We have to change with our times, our needs. This is an age of hurry, stress; it is an age where one is sitting on a pile of new born challenges. The leisure of holding a book in your lap and enjoying it is a luxury of the past!

17. How do you define success?

How do I define success… I think, achieving “inner” peace is success. Remaining in track with your dreams and realities is success. Putting a simple smile on someone who is feeling low is huge in success. This might sound abstract, but in my view the good-factor-feeling comes with cultivation of basic things of life.

Role models – Mahatma Gandhi.

18. What are your hobbies? How do you enjoy them?

Reading books based on historical background. I like travel writers like Michael Palin, William Darlymple. Their books give us an incredible insight into the past connecting our present age. They are so rich in culture, social themes.

Favourite: Autobiography of a Yogi by Sri Sri Parmahansa Yogananda. I have read it quite a few times. It’s a very special book, and that’s the way it will remain: My favourite.