He holds a diploma in advertising, is a full-time writer and refuses to answer to his name. For six years now, Mahesh Ghatpande has been writing under the pen name of Mahesh `Rahi' in Marathi, Hindi and Urdu contributing to the genre of poetry, shayari and rubayi. "When I initially started writing, people cautioned me. Probably out of concern. They thought I wouldn't be able to write in Hindi and Urdu as Marathi is my mother tongue," says this rebel at odds. For instance, he changed his name for no particular reason. He just preferred the way Rahi rolled off tongue.But it's his turn of phrase that has made Rahi a much-published man, with his Marathi poetry filling as many as 10 volumes. His charoli (four-lined poetry) have even been put on tape.But so influenced was he by the writings of Javed Akhtar that Rahi gradually drifted towards writing Hindi-Urdu poetry. "I don't have a guru as such; but Akhtar's writings appeal to me. His treatment of tanhai as a theme is fabulous," says he.He also follows in his guru's footsteps when it comes to choosing his theme. But his reasons are less lofty than Akhtar's. He says, "I write on tanhai and love because most people can identify with them and therefore they tend to like them." Obviously you can take the ad man out of the agency but you cannot take advertising out of his blood. Along with being a writer, Rahi is an independent advertising consultant and the Lijjat Papad advertisement is an example of his commercial skills.But these days, copy writing is taking a backseat. Once again, Rahi follows his muse into an area previously dominated by Akhtar. On the lines of Akhtar's poetry recitation programmes, Rahi has planned his own blitzkrieg on the world of Hindi-Urdu poetry with a two-and-a-half-hour long programme, Shayad. Comprising of 50 Hindi-Urdu poems, a separate session of 18 rubai and around 70 to 75 sher, it is his most ambitious project to date. "Programmes where one person goes into a monologue of recitation tend to get monotonous and therefore boring. So, I've tried the duet way, like the duet songs. I think people will like it," says Rahi.With the first show this weekend, Rahi is waiting for the audience's reaction before he does any chopping and changing. Even though this is the first time he is attempting a such a programme, he seems to have no opening night jitters. In fact, Rahi appears confident that the show will go down well, even in it's unabridged version.There is no end to Rahi's ambition though. Not content with just following in Akhtar's footsteps, Rahi wants to be Akhtar. His ultimate goal is to be a Hindi film lyricist of the same stature as his self-appointed guru. So while he has been approached by film makers, he is holding out for a really big offer with an even bigger budget. The poet wants to be paid what he thinks is his rightful due.Shayad, is to be performed at the Centaur Hotel,Santacruz on August 2, 1997 at 7 pm. Admission by invitation only.
