Fans of poetry, meet Mehek Malhotra. This twenty-something Mumbai-based poet is lighting up Instagram with her art and words, forging a connection with a fresh generation of readers, and making people who wouldn’t usually define themselves as poetry readers into avid converts.
Mehek’s magic lies in her ability to reach into all corners of life, illuminating the beauty that flows through the mundane and the everyday, such as things she notices on her commute to work, songs she plays on loop, flowers, unspoken hopes friends, and favourite memories. She can make a world out of the smallest moment, and shares it with you.
Her short poems are compelling because they are conversational, insightful and humourous; they are based upon Mehek’s personal experiences but are universal in nature, so that readers feel that they
are a part of each, connecting and relating with her words.
Plus as Mehek is both artist and poet, each piece is accompanied by bright and bold artwork which instantly grab your attention, a combination that works brilliantly on a platform like Instagram.
“Poetry and art for me are not two separate entities, I see words as a medium to make someone feel something just like art,” she says. “[And] Instagram is such a beautiful way to reach out to people, someone has a super bad day at work and before they sleep they scroll down their feed and see something that makes them feel better or brings a smile, that’s what I want to do with my art.’ It’s clearly a message that resonates – Mehek has more than 9000 followers.
To this end, Mehek has also launched the Giggling Monkey Studio to make art an everyday thing, something that can be felt and lived, instead of being admired in galleries and museum, and plans to collaborate with more artists and poets too.
Click here to check out Mehek’s poems on Instagram and here to visit the Giggling Monkey Studio’s Facebook page.
Written by Anisha Kashwani
Image credits: Mehek Malhotra
