Oneindia EXCLUSIVE Interview: Vinod Pillai R. on Fostering Imagination in Classrooms and Books

Oneindia

In this Oneindia Exclusive, we sit down with Vinod Pillai R., a poet, educator, and author who believes that learning goes beyond textbooks. With over eight years of teaching experience at Jindal Vidya Mandir, Ratnagiri, and a Master’s in English, Vinod shares how he nurtures creativity, empathy, and imagination in his classrooms. From writing poetry that inspires reflection to crafting educational books that engage young minds, he blends art and education seamlessly. Join us as he talks about his journey, his latest book The Poetic Lens, and the importance of keeping imagination alive in both teachers and students.    #OneindiaExclusive #VinodPillai #Educator #Poet #Author #CreativeLearning #TeachingWithHeart #ThePoeticLens #EducationMatters #InspiringTeachers #IndianAuthors #LiteratureAndLearning #ClassroomCreativity #OneindiaInterview #TeacherSpotlight  Also Read  Oneindia Set To Launch Groundbreaking Survey On Governance To Gauge Mood of the Nation :: https://www.oneindia.com/india/oneindia-set-to-launch-groundbreaking-survey-on-governance-to-gauge-mood-of-the-nation-4161471.html?ref=DMDesc  Exclusive - Upendra's UI Doesn’t Fit Into Single Genre: Music Director Ajaneesh Loknath :: https://www.oneindia.com/entertainment/upendras-ui-music-director-ajaneesh-loknaths-exclusive-interview-about-the-kannada-movie-4021253.html?ref=DMDesc  Oneindia Exclusive On Jharkhand Elections 2024: Ranchi Voters Speak :: https://www.oneindia.com/india/oneindia-exclusive-on-jharkhand-elections-2024-ranchi-voters-speak-3985897.html?ref=DMDesc

Transcript

00:00Talking about the Poetry Cleanse, what inspired you to write this particular book?

00:04And also, do you have any favorite poem from the book that is closest to your heart?

00:07Sail, sail and sail, or the ship will fail. Set the commissary to rescue the ship from misery.

00:15Sail the ship of hope to reach the top to the destined shore from the cold.

00:25How is the experience of writing a poem different from writing an academic book?

00:30Writing a textbook, you have got the matter around. It is not something that you created.

00:37But writing a poem is entirely different. You are in a very different mood.

00:43How do you encourage your students to think creatively because you have both in you?

00:47As students, when we do something good, they get inspired.

00:54It is not that we have to try hard to inspire. Our journey, if we make up, we build up something

01:01and we have got something to share to them and for them, that is an inspiring sense.

01:10Hello and welcome. You are watching One India.

01:13Today, we are in conversation with Vinod Pillai R, a passionate educator, author and poet,

01:19whose journey beautifully blends physical education and literature. From inspiring students in the

01:26classroom to writing textbooks and poetry, he believes learning should touch both the heart and the mind.

01:34His latest book, The Poetic Lens, is a reflection that poetry can teach, heal and inspire.

01:40With over eight years of teaching experience at Jindal Vidyamandir Ratnagiri and several published

01:48works through his name, he continues to prove that creativity and education can go hand in hand.

01:55Let's hear more about his story, inspirations and what keeps him motivated as a teacher and a writer.

02:02Hello, sir. Welcome to One India. Thank you so much for joining us.

02:05Talking about the Poetic Lens, what inspired you to write this particular book?

02:09And also, do you have any favorite poem from the book that is closest to your heart?

02:13I don't remember exactly the words.

02:18Whatever I have written it down, let it come in that way.

02:22Sail, sail and sail, or the ship will fail.

02:26Set the commissary to rescue the ship from misery.

02:30Sail, sail the ship of hope to reach the top to the destined shore from the core.

02:42Wind may turn to stone and your mind may speak to go back home, but go on till you get what you seek.

02:54The day when you reach the shore, people will speak the great law of the great man who found this beautiful den.

03:07You are the knight who has to fight the strong and the might till you reach the land out of sight.

03:16This is the time to decide whether to be called a zero or a hero.

03:24For the world ahead is a prideful ride and the world behind is a shadow that has died.

03:31It is the demand of the hour to see all your power to guide the ship to the land not in the world's lip.

03:46The far off land was reached by those who believed in what they preached and the brave men who stood

03:56head up in every mood, had up in every mood, tasted success food.

04:02Sail and sail and sail, or the ship will fail, said the commissary to rescue the ship from misery.

04:11That was amazing, sir. It's basically all about the struggle that you

04:17face when you are away from home or you are trying to make your own life, trying to establish yourself.

04:22That was truly amazing. At times when we are not in a good mood, we have to like motivate

04:31ourselves, inspire ourselves. So these lines were something that I had liked it. Amazing, amazing.

04:39So you have also written several textbooks. So how is the experience of writing a poem different

04:45from writing an academic book? Because these are two completely different things, I feel.

04:50Yeah, writing a textbook, you have got the matter around. It is not something that you created.

05:02You have seen it, you have got a lot of textbook, you have to refer and then write it. But writing a poem

05:08is entirely different. You are in a very different mood. The state of mind is also very different.

05:16When you are writing, you are focusing on one aspect and it is something that you are creating.

05:26The other one is already late and you have to be like a mathematician. You have to judge which

05:32thing will help the students. What will be, what is that the reader wants? What would help them to get better

05:39marks? What are the aspects which teacher looks for in a textbook? So that is the thought process when

05:46you are writing textbook. But here you are more into it. You write it because you enjoy it.

05:52Yeah.

05:53And even it doesn't matter whether the world enjoys or not. But you will write it, you enjoy it. That's one thing.

06:03The textbook needs the mind and the poems come from the heart basically.

06:09Yeah, you can say poems. Of course, not exactly from because there is somewhere

06:18the background of English that had also triggered it. Not a spontaneous one. Somewhere the background was

06:27there. Or that reading was there. So that might have triggered. But there may be some germ

06:34of a poetic germ that may be there.

06:38Because everybody cannot pen their thoughts in two words.

06:43It requires something as well.

06:47Yeah.

06:49So, sir, talking about your teaching journey, how do you encourage your students to think creatively?

06:53Because you have both in you, the creative part as well. And how do you encourage them to express

06:59themselves beyond the classroom so they can also, you know, one day become a poet or

07:05venturing to a creative world?

07:07As students, when we do something good, they get inspired. It is not that we have to try hard to inspire.

07:17Our journey, if we make up, we build up something and we have got something to share to them. And for them,

07:28that is an inspiring source. And of course, this journey and this experience which comes

07:34and this also reflects that you were someone who had been into polishing yourself. And when you have,

07:45when you are polishing yourself, that aspect more, of course, maybe that is one thing that students get

07:52motivated. Of course, you do your work as what you have to do. And then all the things that you have

08:01achieved, if that is commendable, that inspires the students to do something good, great in your life.

08:08So, sir, have your students read any of your poetry?

08:10I have made them listen to the poem because their reflections always help because the poem,

08:19the book itself, it is compiled in such a way that it has got a textbook-like appeal.

08:28Like the book which is there, you have got poem, then line by line meaning, then the poetic devices used,

08:35then the reflections, the themes that are there, it is not just poem. Because when I see the poems,

08:45most of the poems written, I find that I am not able to understand. And many, many a times when I talk to

08:52some people, they say, those poems are good, which you don't understand. That is beyond. If you can't

09:01comprehend something, that is better. And that is something which is difficult for me to digest.

09:06That have a hidden meaning somehow you need to find out.

09:09Ah, yeah. That maybe, maybe a poet writes from a, from one perspective and where it is rightly said in

09:18a, in Hindi, a Hindi poem, jaha na paunche revi, vaha paunche kavi.

09:30That is true. That is, ah, yeah. That is where the sunlight doesn't reach there, the poets can reach the

09:38thoughts. So, at times, we may not be able to understand the meaning also. That's one aspect. But

09:43they enjoy it, they write. And for me, ah, the things have to, ah, things have to be simple. If we

09:51can't understand, it has to be made, there, there has to be some platform where which, from which the

09:57students can read and then understand or comprehend it. There are different levels of meaning. What I have

10:04written, that may not be the exact version. When you read, there may be a different perspective. Each

10:11person reads a poem or any creative work from their own perspective. And they come up with different

10:18meaning. And that is a beauty. So you just need to give something and then there is a, there, there

10:25people start creating out of it. That is true, sir. Sir, so who has been your biggest inspiration in

10:32your teaching and writing journey? Any poet or someone from your personal life who has been the inspiration

10:38behind me? Or yourself? Of course, my father, my father was there. My father was in military and he, he used

10:51to say, I'm a self-made man. So he, that was there. So I also wanted to do something which makes him talk

11:01about. Though he doesn't, like, he didn't use to speak too much high about me. But I have heard it, that

11:10when he talks to his friends and all, he talks, I'm a writer, like he's doing, he has written so much.

11:18Whether the number of people who are read, that is immaterial. But he projects me as a person who is very

11:26learned. So that's one, one aspect. The father has been an inspiration. Apart from that, my students

11:36have been an inspiration. To give them the best, to do, you have to polish yourself. That had been the

11:42thought. And that, that has inspired. Great, sir. The thoughts that you need to polish, that had inspired.

11:52Okay, sir. So, sir, lastly, who is your favorite poet? And what is the, which is your favorite poem,

11:58if you would like to, uh, uh, say a few lines or just the name of the poem and the poet? Any favorites?

12:09Yeah. The favorite poem, there is one poem,

12:13by, uh, the lines goes like this. Somebody said, it couldn't be done. But he with a chuckle

12:23replied, eight, and it goes like that. At, uh, it is by guest, Edgar Allen, Edgar guest. And that's

12:32the poem that is there in, uh, in the eighth standard. Earlier, it was there. And that's the poem

12:39that says that if the world may say that it cannot be done, but this, it can be done, but you don't

12:47need to, uh, accept by the words, you need to work on it. And if it doesn't work, okay, you accept it.

12:56But, but just by the words of others, don't accept it. Give it a try, give it, and then,

13:03and it may, it will work. It's a very simple and that kinds of things. I like it best.

13:08And that is very true for everybody because, uh, what keeping, keeping yourself motivated and,

13:15uh, not stopping yourself from trying things helps a lot. If you stop yourself from trying new things,

13:21you will never be able to know if you can do it or not. Basically. Yeah. So you need to give an

13:29attempt, give an attempt and things will unfold better. True, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you so

13:36much for joining us. It was lovely talking to you. Thank you, madam. You have been, uh, you have

13:42intrigued me nice way with smiling face and it was, uh, natural. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you.

13:51Subscribe to one India and never miss an update. Download the one India app now.

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