Why Ruby Naaz Sits At Cubbon Park To Write Poems For Strangers

Amid the quintessential chirps of birds and giggles of children in Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park, there is now an intruder– Ruby Naaz’s typewriter, clacking away in all its poetic glory. Naaz is a wordsmith who spends her Saturdays at Cubbon Park for hours, writing poetry on her typewriter for the parkgoers. Word after word, line after line, Naaz curates soulful poetry befit for each person's disposition within just minutes of getting to know them. “Love. Just love,” she said, is what makes her do this.

This response is an accurate example of Naaz's poetic nature which lets her nonchalantly wander into an artistic trance when she talks to people. She engages in pensive conversations with strangers as though they have been friends for ages, and then turns these first impressions into the written word. This is what deems her so special, making her muses come back to meet her every following Saturday. SheThePeople met Ruby Naaz in the park and delved more into her intriguing work and personality. 

Love For Words

On the weekdays, Ruby Naaz is a blogger and creative consultant. She inculcated the habit of reading at a young age, which she said was a detour from the rest of her family's interests. "I'm the only one in my immediate family who reads a lot. I don't know how I got that habit. That's always made me feel a little bit like as if I'm adopted," Naaz joked.

Naaz shared that her earliest memory of indulging in a book she loved was a storybook on Lord Krishna which she was introduced to in school. "I must have been in fifth standard and we were forced to read a book in school about Krishna's childhood. We had to read it and give an exam on it, but that was the only book I enjoyed giving an exam on because we could keep the book by our side and answer the questions by referring to it. But I had enjoyed reading it; it was like a novella for me," she narrated.

Naaz now enjoys reading and writing so much that she is even intrigued by quirky quotes on the t-shirts that her muses wear when they come to meet her. Admirers from various parts of the city come looking for her at Cubbon Park every Saturday to get written for by her. She has written for over 200 visitors in Cubbon Park since she first started. Naaz thought of this concept unanticipatedly one day in July, when she was basking at the park and thought, "I think I'm gonna bring my typewriter here and start writing from next Saturday."

Voicing Her Voice

Naaz is also a podcaster, a project called 'Voicing My Voice' that she started for an unusual reason. "I constantly used to have trouble with my throat, and I was reading this book called Tantric Yoga. It talks about why your 'throat chakra' gets affected because you're not expressing your truth or something like that. I was like, 'You know what? I'm gonna start a podcast and gonna express my truth.'," she shared.

There is no restriction to the topics that Naaz talks about on her podcast. "If something bothers me, or if something doesn't bother me... I'm sure we have something to talk about every day, right? Especially as women who are understanding our own femininity in a masculine world. So yeah, that's how this started," she said.

Dealing With Self-Criticism

When asked about which of her works is her favourite, she instinctively said, "Everything. Everything I have written so far and everything I am yet to write." Self-doubt is not something that Ruby Naaz is bothered by. She expressed that she does not let herself criticise her past work, but only adds more to it. 

"There was always a point where I have read my old material and I felt like I need to add more to this because my experiences on it have evolved. If you holistically accept yourself you won't feel [self-critical].... Become open to making mistakes or even better, realise that there are no mistakes... That's what I love about the thing with typewriters. There is no backspace to keep erasing and I think that is kind of an advantage," Naaz expressed.

Naaz also believes that creative blocks are a "myth" that we create in our heads out of fear of making mistakes. She also shared a beautiful analogy to remember during moments of negativity. "I think it's like the night sky. It's dark, but you still see the stars and the moon and know that the sun will rise."

Need For Redefining

Ruby Naaz is a staunch believer in carving a new path for society, away from stigma and restrictions. She expressed her dissent towards conforming to norms on several accounts during the interview. While describing Cubbon Writes, a quiet writers' community that comes together at the park every week, Naaz shared the need for redefining the concept of what community means.

"Anybody who wants to write is a part of Cubbon Writes. When we say writers' community, everybody thinks there is a particular group of people, and there is an organised leader, but no, that is not what's happening here. The only leader here is nature and people are coming to spend time together, getting their inspiration and then writing that... So now that is a community-- where you're building a collective consciousness towards positivity. We need to redefine certain things based on the way people are experiencing them. Old definitions do not fit the box anymore," she expressed.

Although Cubbon Park is a large scape filled with several activities happening everywhere, Ruby Naaz's charming presence is hard to miss. On most days, one can find her clad in a saree surrounded by her admirers, some of whom came looking for her from an Instagram reel about her that went viral. But the perils of social media virality got to her too, with comments about her "indecent dressing," as they put it.

However, Naaz is unbothered by this too and sees it as an opportunity to educate. She paid homage to the legendary Kannada poet, Akka Mahadevi, stating her as an inspiration. "Our ancestors never complained about her naked soul or the naked body because they embodied depth deeper than skin-deep," Naaz said, adding, "I have spoken about this in a podcast episode called Deeper Than Skin-Deep. I wanted to help people... I think that is how we can tell them. I'm not angry. I mean, we shouldn't be. In fact, I find it as my opportunity to speak my voice and truth with love."