''Not the voice you can easily suppress, so I surpass the heights of all limits that I set''

-Deepa Unnikrishnan

These words don’t just surge inexplicable electricity within us, they also voice the true story of a winner. There’s no height you can’t surmount or a challenge you can’t outflank; TLC India’s new series The Poetist is a bold take with an ingeniously curated first-of-its-kind content that amplifies loud and clear the entrenched voices and untold stories of and by the bad and boujee females who unflinchingly stood out from the crowd despite the censorious gazes and contempt-ridden whispers trying to pull them down. After creating some groundbreaking records with ‘The Queens of Comedy’ being the first an all-female comedy hunt show, TLC India is all set to continue the streak and bring about a wave of change with their brand new series ‘The Poetist.’

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Despite a lot of campaigns, rebelliousness and support to women in the 21st Century, we haven’t yet experienced a 360 degree paradigm shift in the way females are regarded in the society and that is when shows like The Poetist comes along to lift them up and coax them to drop the baggage of the society’s weight and chase their dreams and goals and bucketlists and you know, just gently gives them that chance to indulge in their own definition of life and declare their identity.  

The Poetist is a series that stars different female artists from varied walks of life, who come forward and present their ‘verse of reality’.  Actress Swara Bhaskar kickstarted the series with her verse of reality which I felt was a thought-provoking and reflective verse; something every woman can and would relate to. Her composition titled as ‘Conceal, remove, repeat’ places a mirror in the hands of the society and questions blatantly the choices we make. Her verse is more of a response to the society with a forthright revelation of the society’s mentality-to expect, judge and criticise. She evinces the ongoing struggle that pushes a woman harder to bend to society’s acceptance and forces her to give in to their remarks. The desire to be ‘yourself’ is somewhere lost and long gone in the pursuit of fitting in. A verse this powerful has every guilty nerve twitching (of the fault-finders) and an ever-lasting change in the minds of young women, because ‘to be or not to be is your choice, darling.’

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Next up was Deepa Unnikrishnan a.k.a Dee MC, our favourite rapper, who has not only proved her mettle but also slammed the stereotypical ideas as she raps her way to success and defiance.  Well, her journey is already an embodiment of her capability and this verse is absolutely a punch in the gut of the naysayers and sexists, heck yeah!  

While only two episodes have been aired so far, it has undoubtedly received whopping responses.  The next episode (third-in-line) is yet to be aired and TLC India has already started dropping hints of what to expect next. With captions like ‘tag the girlfriend who is a great poetess’ or ‘tag the one who never falls short of words’ has the viewers all perked up for another  brilliantly unapologetic episode of The Poetist.

In any case, if anybody else is also wondering why is the name specifically chosen as The Poetist and not ‘poetess’ or ‘poet’ the deduction can be simple yet brilliantly creative. The word is more of a portmanteau by combining ‘poetess’ (for the idea of deliverance is through verses) and the word ‘feminist’ (claiming the rights and bridging the gender gulf.)  

Simple. Powerful. Brilliant- The Poetist has already created a niche and is a refreshing, revealing truth of the young women asking the big questions about identity and belonging. Steeped in honesty, The Poetist is bound to be a memorable emotional odyssey that is going to help all its viewers to reconcile with their inner beauty and dare them to take every challenge head on!

Watch: The Poetist every Monday at 9.00 p.m. (IST) only on TLC.

You can also catch up for the episodes on their official TLC India YouTube Channel.