With 2.5 million followers on Instagram and two bestselling poetry collections under her name, Rupi Kaur is the poet who has become the voice of a generation that often fails to express what they feel.
Only 25 years old, this young woman of Indo-Canadian heritage has always presented poems that focus on gender equality, women safety, and menstruation taboos, among other issues.
Recently, she was in India and gave an interview to Condé Nast Traveller India, where she talked about her relationship with India and how Indian women need to love themselves before anyone else.
For Rupi, her relationship with India has definitely evolved over the years.
Where earlier the country was ‘alien’ to her, today it ‘feels like a home she never had’.
She adds,
I have performed at so many places, but there’s an essence of performing here that I have never felt anywhere else. People identify greatly with my work here.
And she does feel that there is a lot Indian women need to ‘unlearn and learn’.
She feels the Indian woman should be a little selfish and not be so sacrificial ‘for the people around’.
Maybe unlearn the idea that they are not beautiful enough, that their skin colour is not good enough or their bodies aren’t nice enough.
She also talked about her past travel experiences, preferring mountains over beaches, and completing her travel bucket list that includes Egypt, Columbia, and Brazil.
Clearly, her perceptive approach and deep understanding of people, especially women, defies the belief that wisdom only comes with age.
You can read the entire interview here. All images sourced from Rupi Kaur’s Instagram handle, unless otherwise specified.