In Conversation with Priya Malik

A true influencer who is art personified from the way she speaks to the way she carries herself around.

Holding her ground in contemporary poetry and spoken art, she spins magic with words.

She portrays the collective conscience of women who turn their passion into their careers.

With anti discriminatory causes, she doesn't bite her tongue against biases.

A millennial who enjoys cooking, is fierce and gentle at the same time.

She has found her calling in performing spoken word and is living a slow life.

When asked who she is as a person? And how she would tell the poet in her apart from the person in her?

Priya smiles softly.

The Sun falling on her illuminates the swift change in emotions.

"As a person, I am someone who pours her heart in everything I do.

I think the poet and the person are intertwined.

Both together define who I am.

I believe in spontaneity, change and continuity.

I let myself be absorbed in the current emotions and let them take over to express myself best.

I often say that I press the rewind and pause buttons of my life more than the play or forward ones. I thrive on nostalgia! My present is only because of what once was."

Curious for more, we ask her about how she would define herself in one word?

Raising her eyebrows, she affirms.

I would say 'AND' relates the best with me.

I believe in inventing and then reinventing myself.

In the last two decades I have done some 30 odd jobs. And I am continually evolving.

For me there is an 'and' to everything. I am a spoken word artist and a poet and an actor and a teacher and a writer and a model and, and, and.

I always want to be an 'and'."

The afternoon glow seems to have melted on her face. She looks like a vintage painting dressed in a gossamer Midnight charcoal saree.

Taking in this picture we put up our next question.

"How do you deal with the pressure of dressing?"

"Dressing..!" Priya lets a lilted laugh stimulate the air before she continues.

"I love getting ready! But it does put me in a lot of stress.

Over the time I have learned to deal with this pressure by organising myself a little.

I let my mood take over and go by my instincts.

I prefer putting out my clothes and jewellery the night before.

I form an idea about it. It helps me sleep better as well. And waking up to the task of picking up 'the outfit' already done makes my morning. Haha!"

Your aesthetics?

"I have evolved a lot when it comes to personal style and am still adding more to it.

I go for minimal, sustainable, earthy ways to dress.

I have started to connect with my fabrics with the passing years.

Cottons and linens let me breathe through, which feels natural! Thus I go for them sub-consciously.

I adore the classic way of styling. Be it bindis, jhumkis, kajal, gajras, or anything old school for that matter. In fact with Nomad, what attracts me are the delicate details and a touch of flora to everything you create. And the no waste motto is something I truely value.

I am also a saree person! The Indian aesthetic is definitely my favourite."

How does it feel to be an influencer?

Oh!, "I did not see myself as an influencer until I saw that people did. That is when I realized the power of social media. The world is swarming with content.

I don't believe in being a part of the rat race. Poetry courses through my veins and I let it come out in the spoken form.

For I strongly believe that the speech has power. It can lead to change. It can lead to action.

Thus I root for my causes, I proudly stand as an artist and speak for the same causes.

What is your maxim? What is the one thing that keeps you going?

"My perpetual aim is to raise the standard of life without striving only towards raising the standard of living.

My only rush is to slow down. I am huge believer in slow living. Lately I have learnt the extraordinary joy of being ordinary.

Like I don't care what car I am driving, I drive none for that matter. I own none.

But I care how much peace I am at while sipping my cup of tea.

So for me it's now about making every tiny moment count.

I want to add to myself and my surroundings.

I work towards making my life sustainable.

And add more and more to sustainable businesses run by strong women.

"What is it being like a female artist”?

The same as being a male artist.

Except that they don't get asked this question"

She reads out these lines from her poem 'art has no gender'.

We sit for a while, letting the words pour over us.

With this we close our conversation.

There's a peace of being understood.

There's a sense of understanding in the air.

AND, :) We are glad to be 'in her shoes' for a day.

To be continued...