By Cassie Smith
Since its conception, Instagram has evolved from a photo-based platform to a place where users can freely express themselves in a variety of ways.
South Asian poet ena ganguly (who prefers her name to be lowercased) is forming a strong social media following as she explores race, class and religion through real and poignant Instagram-based poetry.
A University of Texas senior, ena spoke with the Austin Urban Post on how her experiences and multifaceted cultural upbringing have influenced her explorative writings.
She created the poetry-based platform as a means to connect with others on a personal level.
I started writing poems on Instagram near the end of my freshman year in college because it was a way for me to feel less alone. I wanted to… recreate this sort of intimacy with people that day-to-day interactions don’t permit. I think poetry — and all art really — has this beautiful way of doing that. There’s this access point that allows many different people with different backgrounds to relate to one another. That’s the real reason why I started making my poems more public, but I’ve been writing since high school.
Her poetry originates from experience.
For a long time my poetry has been about my ancestors and the experiences they had. By ancestors I mean my living relatives and also those who have passed — those who I haven’t had physical interactions with but whose memories are still very much alive. It’s like I have this sense of what to write about and [when I do] it feels like I’m speaking from those memories. Poetry to me is about empathizing with other people; making sure it’s a form of healing and not one that rehashes trauma.
At six years old, she moved from Northeast India to Sugarland, Texas.
I grew up in a predominantly black community and I think that really helped me understand what solidarity and community memory look like… [But] I also grew up in India.
I feel like most people of color, especially black folks in America, experience this certain thing where we have to code-switch, so to speak, in order to move into another space appropriately. I’ve had to do that growing up.
In India there is a lot of poverty — very in-your-face, on-the-street poverty. I grew up in an upper middle class household there, which was a place of privilege in India. When I came here [America], I was in a more sort of marginalized space with working class folks.
Having these multiple lenses of experience has shaped my work because complicating the South Asian identity is what a lot of my writing is about; opening up dialogue that lots of people don’t want to have. Talking about class, religion and anti-blackness in South Asian communities, these are all things I want to address with my poetry in one way or another. There’s lots of multiplicity to it.
ganguly’s poem’s can be viewed on Instagram @enaganguly.
Austin Urban Post 