Sasha Atolia believes that unexpected things are the most beautiful treasure that would enter your life without a knock. Studying to become a lawyer, one unexpected little poem on a piece of paper, became her way of finding an escape and expressing her musings. When Sasha Atolia discovered this other side of herself apart from being an advocate, poetry has always lent her the power of healing and understanding her own emotions and feelings.
Sasha Atolia talks to Storiyaan about how she has evolved as a poet through her emotions and as a writer through her first blog. Have a look at this cynical conversation to know more about Sasha and her poetry.
Interview
Questions and answers
After successfully having tried your hand at poetry and the creation of quotes, do you find yourself returning to any particular theme recurrently?
Originally, my poems revolved around surrounding themes such as love, self-appreciation, and women’s social image. But as time passed by, I began to enjoy writing ‘inspirational quotes. I still believe that writing is the most powerful form of literature and so are its readers. What has remained constant over the last 3 years is the ‘open door I left for all the emotions and mixed feelings that come to my mind and can be picked irrespective of any theme’.
Being an advocate demands you to be empirical in your thoughts with brutal facts, while poetry permits you more creative lenience. How do these personality contrasts complement each other?
I began my writing journey in the midst of becoming a lawyer. As a lawyer, one must follow the path of facts and proof. But, at the same time, it comes with more sensitivity and emotions when you call yourself a poet. There is no emotion and sentiment window in the courtroom. In this way, I believe it contradicts. I adapted my personality as an advocate and a writer by involving social issues, or issues surrounding advocacy in my writing pad. I can’t describe myself just as an advocate and a poet, but a poet-advocate.
Tell us about the time you decided to write your first blog and what acted as a source for inspiration for it?
My first blog was on ‘Do Self-Quarantine need to be Reshaped?’. Before that, I had never tried my hands on writing blogs. It was the first time when the situation of Co-vid urged me to pick up a pen and write down whatever my mind was baffling with. The source of inspiration, I can say was ‘the darker mood’ associated with the pandemic and how the country dealt with a traumatic situation all over.
One of your blogs deals with the dilemma women face regarding their hairstyles and how they are discriminated against based on that. Have you ever been the victim of gender-based bias in your workplace and could you tell us a bit about it?
Fortunately, I have never been acquainted with any kind of discrimination within my workplace. Indeed, I wrote a blog on ‘Discrimination via Women’s Hairstyles’. It was in 2019 when I was pursuing my Master’s in law and I came to find about the American Office Culture when I took the subject ‘Feminist thought’. I thought to write upon this blundering issue to make it a readable blog on a public platform portraying how gender binaries still exist in the era of the 21st Century.
As an introvert, other than poetry how did you channel your opinions and feeling and communicated them with others without aggravating and distorting your comfort zone and how did people react to them?
At the point, when I started this journey of writing, I was a happy kid who simply writes down what she felt and which she couldn’t share verbally. But at the same time, I was hoping to drive myself to an external world by being less introverted. Speaking of my present time, I discover alternative approaches to channelize my feelings, and over I found that I am turning into an ambivert. My friends and family members are very well aware of my ‘introvert side’ and they know how I am. I am honoured they don’t pass judgement based on this version of myself but admire my writing talent.
What is a message that you want to pass on to people in these hard times of COVID?
In these unsettling times, I simply want to pass on to my readers as well as non-readers that welcome every moment in your life with the art of healing regardless of whatever challenging phase you are in. Just remember, survival is the most fearless weapon and, in these times, if you have ruled over it, you will win over all those blues that are breathing in your mind as well as in your hearts.