Playwright, painter, poet and doctor Gieve Patel will preside at Junoon's 'Mumbai Local' session this weekend. Gieve Patel will speak about his journey and his inspirations.

Excerpts from the conversation Junoon had with Gieve Patel:On the different approaches to playwriting, poetry and painting.

The poems come unexpectedly, in first drafts which surprise you. Whereas I've written only three plays, and that tells you something, you know! I'm a slow painter, and I could do about four paintings in six months, but I could never dream of producing four plays or novels. It's the very nature of the particular art. The paintings are, in one sense, the most comforting - before you start painting every day, you need to clean your palette, put your colours in order. That simple physical exercise calms you down and takes care of some of the anxiety, so that by the time you've finished with the preliminaries, you are ready to face the canvas.

On his famous poem "On Killing a Tree" being overinterpreted by school children.

It's very funny because this was written in the 60s, when I was 20 years old. I came into the hospital compound one day after a monsoon storm, and found this beautiful peepal tree - magnificently large, it must have been years and years old - down. It was shocking to see. I sat down then and there and wrote this poem. After, it was held by some people as an environment conscious poem - and even that I question because actually it's not saying how to save a tree, it's saying how to kill a tree!

On Chekhov's famous quip - "Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress" - and whether it applies to him.

An interesting inversion - people often used to say to me, "It must be good to go out into the public after being alone in the studio, on the writing desk," and I'd say that it's the other way round! It is the painting and the poetry which is public, and when I go to the clinic it is a completely closed encounter. I feel very restful, and have no kind of sense of... horrible responsibility resting on me! Whereas when I'm painting and writing - of course I'm doing it entirely for myself - but it is impossible not to know that hundreds of people are going to see this.

On his personal heroes.
I think that you can't write an important play if you have not read and understood - or at least tried to understand - Chekhov, Ibsen, Strindberg, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neil, Aeschylus, Euripides. I think that you have to have their blessings, without which you can't write the play! Similarly I think that 14th century Italian painting, 10th century Chinese painting, the miniatures produced in Akbar and Jahangir's courts - these are all part of your bloodstream. Poetry? Who can move an inch without Shakespeare?

Click here to read the entire interview with Gieve Patel.

The Eye and the Brush: Mumbai Local with Gieve Patel is at Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Byculla on Sunday, 8th March at 5 pm. Entry to the 'Mumbai Local' free, but museum charges apply. Pre-register at [email protected]

Upcoming Mumbai Local sessions this March:



Dr. R. Vijayaraghavan on his fascination with the science behind musical sound. (20th March, Kitab Khana, Fort)

Vikram Kapadia on what it means to be on stage. (27th March, Somaiya college campus, Vidyavihar)

Entry is free for all Mumbai Locals, on a first-come-first-served basis*. Museum entry charges apply for events at the Bhau Daji Lad museum. Space is limited, pre-registration is strongly recommended.

Write to us at [email protected] to request pre-registration - and make sure you mention the session name! Pre-registration request will be confirmed within 1 working day.

*If sessions are full, you can take a chance and show up - seating according to the wait list only if space is available.

Mumbai Theatre Guide takes no responsibility for change in schedule.