Source : Hindustan Times
This is the first Marathi book of poetry to be dedicated to the successful Internet entrepreneur.
Seven years ago, Yojna Yadav (37), a journalist with a regional newspaper began writing poems on Facebook. Thanks to Facebook that her first book of poems is now published, and she has dedicated it to Facebook co- founder Mark Zuckerberg. This is the first Marathi book of poetry to be dedicated to the successful Internet entrepreneur.
“I used to login on Facebook and saw people sharing a lot of things, hence I thought if I could share my poetry. I started writing a poetry every day and upload them on Facebook,” said Yojna, a book editor with Mehta Publishing House.
“I was 13 when I first wrote my poem on puppy love. This poem I never shared with anyone. When I was in Class 10, local newspapers in Kolhapur and Sangli printed some of my poems,” she said.
Yojna’s book Mari Mari Jaay Sarir (We are dying slowly) is based on Kabir’s doha (couplet). It has 105 poems, several of which have been shared more than 50 times and has more than 700 likes on Facebook. “I dedicated my first book to Zuckerberg for he gave me the platform to share my thoughts and poetry and also an outlet to reach out to like-minded people, readers and poetry lovers. His virtual platform magnified my reality,” she said.
Yojna’s poems are on man-woman relationships, sexuality, struggle against ethics, societal norms, and freedom of speech.
Her rebellious style of writing grabbed the attention of women, critics and writers. “Women from different parts of Maharashtra started calling me after reading my poems. They didn’t know me, still they used to share guarded secrets and their desires with me after reading my poetry online.”
Yojna feels that Zuckerberg has provided the platform to express oneself without barriers. “He is my inspiration for because of him, a woman like me from a small town of Maharashtra can reach out to thousands of like-minded people and share my thoughts.”
She said that Sunil Mehta of Mehta Publishing House while setting the layout of the book insisted to share her Facebook account link in the book.. “So instead of putting biodata in the book, I have shared the social media links of my account, thus to connect to my readers easily,” she said.
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