Get ready for aMUSEment: This poetry school in Mumbai just needs four months to make a poet out of you

Is poetry a layman's cup of tea? The answers to that question and one’s perception might conflict. But Anish Vyavahare's answer is always yes. Why else would he start a poetry college? Yes! You heard it right. Anish runs the college out of QTube Cafe, Mumbai where four teachers train 20 students to be poets in a course of four months.

The 30-year-old lecturer, who was once in search of a similar course, says, "There were courses that offered training in writing, but that was not what I was looking for. Also, the qualifying criteria were very high. I found it ironic."

Anish is usually the facilitator of the class where his students, who range from students to retired professionals, are exposed to different styles of poetry. They're also given extensive writing exercises. At the same time, he ensures that they also read poetry extensively

After toying with the idea for almost a year, Anish began the course in August. But can poetry be taught as a  regular subject? "Everyone can write. We don't really question Math being taught to everyone. The same logic should apply for poetry too. Some people are good at it, while some aren't," he says, adding that the sessions are usually two to four hours long and happen twice a week.

Anish is usually the facilitator of the class where his students, who range from students to retired professionals, are exposed to different styles of poetry. They're also given extensive writing exercises. At the same time, he ensures that they also read poetry extensively.

There were courses that offered training in writing, but that was not what I was looking for. Also, the qualifying criteria were very high. I found it ironic

Anish Vyavahare, who runs a poetry college out of QTube Cafe, Mumbai

"Many people write, but not too many read poetry. Also, we crave for virality these days. Random rants about women empowerment may win applause, but that isn't poetry," he says, with the hope of creating better poets of tomorrow.

Selecting people was tough. Also, I didn't want to keep the filters too tight because it would have become like any other course and that would be pointless