About us
Let's get together to read, explore and spread the beauty, love, mystic, and spirituality expressed in poetry, literature, and music from around the world. Website - https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/
You do not have to be a poet, a writer, or even very knowledgeable about poetry. All are welcome.
Please find about us more here -
Kaavya Connections 2018 in Review https://medium.com/@imaxxs/kaavya-connections-2018-in-review-89fcca31f306
Organization Journey - https://medium.com/@imaxxs/poetry-and-literature-in-bay-area-my-perspective-3273d7b16d7b
THE FIVE ELEMENTS SHOW -
Video snippets of Journey of the Soul show performances
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZg2SfVgbi8&list=UUeyQCAdKjClLolXOez489iA&index=2
Please also join our mailing list to be informed of our upcoming events -
https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/mailing-list/
What better way to learn and explore a language than Poetry and Literature?
The topics can be chosen together by members and coordinators.
Snippets of poems for your consideration -
Poem by John de Kadt
In the end, when these bones are only bones,
all that matters,
is how much we gave and how much we loved.
Poem by Najwan Darwish (Palestinian Poet)
You take off from the earth
but you can't help falling back again
You'll land
on your feet or your face, you'll land
Even if the plane explodes
your pieces, your atoms
will still land
You're nailed to it:
The earth, your small cross.
Poem by Dulce Maria Loynaz (Cuban Poet)
I wouldn’t trade my solitude
for a little love
For a lot of love; yes.
But a lot of love is itself
a kind of solitude.
Haiku by Dogen (Japanese Poet)
The migratory bird
leaves no trace behind
and does not need a guide.
Doha couplet by Kabir (Bhakti poet from India)
चलती चक्की देख कर, दिया कबीरा रोये |
दो पाटन के बीच में, साबुत बचा ना कोए ||
Looking at the grinding stones, Kabir cries
In the duel of wheels, nothing stays intact.
Rumi translation by Coleman Barks
Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing,
and right-doing,
there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
Poem by Dushyant Kumar (Indian Poet - Hindi)
हो गई है पीर पर्वत-सी पिघलनी चाहिए, <br> इस हिमालय से कोई गंगा निकलनी चाहिए। <br> <br> आज यह दीवार, परदों की तरह हिलने लगी, <br> शर्त लेकिन थी कि ये बुनियाद हिलनी चाहिए।
Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit) -
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत । <br> अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥४-७॥ <br> <br> परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् । <br> धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥४-८॥ <br>
Couplet by Mirza Galib (Indian Poet - Urdu) -
हैं और भी दुनिया में सुख़नवर बोहोत अच्छे
कहते हैं के ग़ालिब का है अंदाज़-ए-बयाँ और <br>
Featured event
Where the Reed Flute Calls: An Afternoon of Rumi, Sufi Poetry, and the Ghazal
There are moments when something within us listens — before words, before thought — as if called by a distant music.
In Sufi tradition, the reed flute carries that call. Hollowed, shaped by absence, it sings not in spite of loss, but because of it. Its voice is longing made audible — the soul remembering where it came from.
This gathering begins there.
“Where the Reed Flute Calls” is an invitation into that inner listening — an afternoon shaped by the poetry of Rumi, the depth of Sufi consciousness, and the timeless beauty of the ghazal. Inspired by a heartfelt wish from within our community to return to shared spaces of presence and poetry, we come together again — not just to read, but to remember.
In honoring the legacy of Coleman Barks, whose renderings of Rumi opened doorways for many into this tradition, we also reflect on how poetry travels — across languages, across time, across the quiet spaces between us.
Like the gentle winds of Saba (صبا) and Naseem (نسیم) — symbols of renewal, breath, and awakening — the poems we share will move softly through the room. They will not compete with the noise of the world. They will arrive like something familiar, something inward, something waiting.
This is a circle.
We will read Rumi — in translation, in memory, in resonance.
We will explore the ghazal — its longing, its repetition, its delicate balance between separation and union.
We will make space for other Sufi, mystical, and devotional voices — across languages and traditions.
There will be pauses. There will be silence. There may be music.
And in between, there will be that subtle, shared recognition — the kind poetry makes possible.
Whether you come to listen, to share, or simply to sit within this atmosphere, your presence becomes part of the gathering.
You are welcome to bring:
- A poem by Rumi or from Sufi traditions
- A ghazal you love
- A poem of longing, love, or spiritual seeking
- An original piece inspired by these themes
We invite poetry from all languages. Together, we will translate, interpret, and listen — allowing meaning to emerge collectively.
As always with Kaavya Connections, the conversation may wander beyond the theme. We follow where the words — and silences — lead.
Because sometimes, what we are really gathering for
is not the poem itself,
but the space it opens.
Please find more about us here - Kaavya Connections Website - https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/.
Please also join the mailing list for our upcoming events: https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/mailing-list/.
If you would like to volunteer to help organize the monthly gatherings and shows in any way, please email contact@kaavyaconnections.com.
Bring a friend, a poetic story to tell, or come to listen and enjoy.
Above all, bring your creative self.
Kaavya Connections
Upcoming events
1
Where the Reed Flute Calls: An Afternoon of Rumi, Sufi Poetry, and the Ghazal
The Hidden Cafe, 1250 Addison St Suite 111, Berkeley, CA, USThere are moments when something within us listens — before words, before thought — as if called by a distant music.
In Sufi tradition, the reed flute carries that call. Hollowed, shaped by absence, it sings not in spite of loss, but because of it. Its voice is longing made audible — the soul remembering where it came from.
This gathering begins there.
“Where the Reed Flute Calls” is an invitation into that inner listening — an afternoon shaped by the poetry of Rumi, the depth of Sufi consciousness, and the timeless beauty of the ghazal. Inspired by a heartfelt wish from within our community to return to shared spaces of presence and poetry, we come together again — not just to read, but to remember.
In honoring the legacy of Coleman Barks, whose renderings of Rumi opened doorways for many into this tradition, we also reflect on how poetry travels — across languages, across time, across the quiet spaces between us.
Like the gentle winds of Saba (صبا) and Naseem (نسیم) — symbols of renewal, breath, and awakening — the poems we share will move softly through the room. They will not compete with the noise of the world. They will arrive like something familiar, something inward, something waiting.
This is a circle.
We will read Rumi — in translation, in memory, in resonance.
We will explore the ghazal — its longing, its repetition, its delicate balance between separation and union.
We will make space for other Sufi, mystical, and devotional voices — across languages and traditions.There will be pauses. There will be silence. There may be music.
And in between, there will be that subtle, shared recognition — the kind poetry makes possible.
Whether you come to listen, to share, or simply to sit within this atmosphere, your presence becomes part of the gathering.
You are welcome to bring:
- A poem by Rumi or from Sufi traditions
- A ghazal you love
- A poem of longing, love, or spiritual seeking
- An original piece inspired by these themes
We invite poetry from all languages. Together, we will translate, interpret, and listen — allowing meaning to emerge collectively.
As always with Kaavya Connections, the conversation may wander beyond the theme. We follow where the words — and silences — lead.
Because sometimes, what we are really gathering for
is not the poem itself,
but the space it opens.Please find more about us here - Kaavya Connections Website - https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/.
Please also join the mailing list for our upcoming events: https://www.kaavyaconnections.com/mailing-list/.
If you would like to volunteer to help organize the monthly gatherings and shows in any way, please email contact@kaavyaconnections.com.
Bring a friend, a poetic story to tell, or come to listen and enjoy.
Above all, bring your creative self.
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