After much deliberation and a lot of holdups, finally we were able to craft this gem for you. The first edition of Shrinkhla is a ‘novice’ attempt to give you an insight into our voyage of seas, with the sea being both poetry and the people involved in our family. 

After going through this, you’ll find some new hookups (books over people) and you may get your comfy bed ready to binge-watch this vacation, but most importantly you’ll get to know us better. Even if you’re clueless about us (which we bet), you’ll find yourself there amongst us, witnessing a session, attending an event or doing one thing which we all love.

Writing.

Long live the poetry revolution!

Personal Orientation

Little did the team know that the walls of our spacious T2 room would not suffice the mighty words and the unbeatable enthusiasm of our wordsmiths. The room was unexpectedly jam packed with a huge crowd of freshers, all brimmed with energy to get acquainted with the poetic bliss of Venky. Yes, it was 4th August, the orientation program of Petrichor: The Creative Writing Soc of SVC.

The hustle of the chaotic room suddenly iced into a serene cage as Randeep Singh, the Vice President of Petrichor stood out to enchant the audience with his magical words through his poem ‘tu dekh na’

Randeep Singh and Sagar Yadav(the event coordinator of Petrichor) their ever-refreshing shayris out through their charismatic voice and their unmatchable aura have always been a feast for the babies for svc.

 Resonating with the same rhythm, Ashwini jha, the star of Petrichor left the audience awestruck as he lit the fire of agony against women discrimination. That voice still echoes in our hearts. His profound words and unmatchable enthusiasm forced tears out of our eyes. A standing ovation was too less to honour him. Next, we had Seep, the pearl of Petrichor who mesmerized the audience with her beautiful poem on self love, ’20 under 20′
Snapping echoed across the hall keeping pace with all the performances. 
And what could have been better than the surprise presence of Arijit Roy and Prabal Khatri who graced the ocassion and ended it on a high note. Arijit Roy, the man who unveiled the camouflaged talent of students and led the poetry revolution of Venky.He is serving as an inspiration to all those who dare to think out of the box. It is his never ending dedication and perseverance that gave voice to our words. It is because of him that you’re reading this today, and I’m blessed to be the one writing.

 Apoorva (President of Petrichor) and the core team joined in as he went on through the journey of seeing Petrichor evolve as a society. We all are gratefully indebted to you Arijit.Thereafter, Prabal Khatri, the President of SVC and a treasured member of Petrichor added delight to the poetic evening with his soothing words. As every heart desired to become a part of the family, Apoorva jain (President) explained the selection procedure. She added that even students who wouldn’t get through, will always remain a member of the club ’cause we’re all stringed through the eternal love for poetry. The orientation program was undoubtedly a big hit. And with this, the poetic bliss came to a halt paving way to the very first chapter of Petrichor : The place where we play with words, share ideas and grow together

FAA Orientation

Here’s unfurling a ripened bud in the beautiful garden of svc, a new blooming society under faa: Petrichor – the Creative Writing Soc Carrying forward the legacy of Arijit Roy, who laid the founding stone of the society,  our leader Apoorva Jain (President) proudly introduced the new postholders, all geared up to lead the first episode in the blockbuster to be

.Vice President : Randeep Singh

 Creative heads : Ashwini Jha and Shashank Shekhar

Event coordinator : Sagar Yadav

Marketing heads : Anant Vijay and Rajeev AnandA sneak peek of Petrichor’s evolution as a society was glimpsed through a short video. 

It was followed by Seep conjuring up the magic of poetry through ’20 under 20′ her beautiful creation on self-love, which was highly applauded by the audience.

Apoorva Jain (President) winded up by outlining the journey and functioning of the society in a nutshell.

By – Khushboo

What else can be more soothing than getting a platform to vent out all your emotions without being judged. Moreover, meeting the souls  who could resonate with poetic enigma within you is the best thing one can be blessed with.I feel myself lucky enough to be blessed with the opportunity of being a member of Petrichor. 20th September, I still remember the day when we had the First open mic session of Petrichor. The excitement for the very first event of the society was on an epic level.

It kickstarted with amazing poems which one could not only listen to but feel eternally.There was a plethora of themes and topics which were presented at the session .One could feel the depth of the words and enjoy the unique writing style of different individual. The embellished content and the way of performing attracted everyone. The multilingual content was embracing for each person present at the event.

It was very welcoming of the seniors and the creative heads of Petrichor to perform themselves to boost up the confidence of the freshers.They tried every possible thing to make the environment warm and cordial. Another significant thing was the performance of the founder President Arijit Roy. He stands as a role model and inspiration for everyone by his colossal passion for poetry.

The part of the event  that was most exciting was the shayaris. I could feel the fact that words ran from the veins of these beautiful people. The way they were complementing each other’s  lines was jawdropping. It stood as an evidence that I am with the most beautiful souls of the world who can touch every heart with their words.
The event was a whole new experience for me. I was so underconfident to perform but the congenial environment kindled me up to perform and that was my very first performance publicly. All thanks to the cheering and cherishing ambience. The event was a great success and every single soul in the room enjoyed it.

By – Apoorva Thapliyal

1. Red Queen – by: Victoria Aveyard

If you’re looking for the next hit after The Hunger Games trilogy, the Red Queen series is the one for you.

2. Homo Deus – by: Yuval Noah Harari

This is one of those insanely informative and important books that are actually fun to  read. You can see Harari’s genius reflected in every sentence. Some of his other works include Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and both of these are works of art.

3. The Selfish Gene by: Richard Dawkins.

Are we the best the creation has to offer? What if this body is nothing more than a vessel of our genes? A detailed account of gene centered evolution of all living beings. A book worth reading, that gives a fresh perspective for human behaviour and the altruistic actions in our world.

4. The fountainhead by:Ayn Rand.

America of 1930s, one man against the society. The cost of standing up for your belief in a world that favours mediocrity over the genius of an individual.

5. Kafka on the Shore by: Haruki Murakami.

An oedipal curse, a mysterious sickness. A brutal murder and raining mackerel. The author takes the reader on a ride of passion, suspense and magical realism.

6. Sapiens:A brief history of humankind. by: Yuval Noah Harari.

“God created man in his own image” but did he? A fast paced recap through ages marking the rise of humans from scavengers to top of food chain. Our achievements and breaking free of genetic constraints, the book builds on a strong narrative that leaves no room for intelligent design.

7. Emperor of all maladies. By: Siddhartha Mukherjee.




A detailed history of human understanding of one of the most diverse illness afflicting humans, Cancer. From Egyptian Papyrus records to modern cutting edge technology, witness the unending war of man against death.

8. We are not Ourselves. By: Matthew Thomas.

A devoted scientist. An ambitious woman. Their pursuit of American dream. A tale of love, life and a broken family dealing with Alzheimer’s.

9. Night falls fast. By: Redfield Jamison.




A book that leads the reader to understand the suicidal mind. A guide to recognise and come to aid of those at risk and the effects it had on those left behind.

10. The third chimpanzee. By: Jared Diamond.

Are we truly unique? Or a glorified species of chimpanzee? The book traces the peculiar human traits back to their possible animal precedents that bridge the gap between humans and other primates.

By – Surbhi and Vaibhav

1. Brooklyn Nine-Nine – If you are looking to laugh for 20 minutes straight and seeing characters who denounce all anti-feministic, homophobic, and racist tropes, this show is all you need. 

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2. Mindhunter – If you are into serial killers, blood and gore, and heart-wrenching true accounts of them all, look no further. This show is the one. Bonus: Season 2 should be out soon. 

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3. Riverdale –
Drama based on characters from the Archie comic-books series is set in Riverdale, where aspiring musician Archie deals with life, love and high school.

4. Stranger Things-

When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.

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5. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina-
Magic and mischief collide as half-human, half-witch Sabrina navigates between two worlds: mortal teen life and her family’s legacy, the Church of Night.

By – Surbhi

He was born on August 5 ,1997 in a Bengali family in Rohini, New Delhi . He got his secondary education from N K Bagrodia Public School , Rohini and senior secondary education from DPS Sector 24 ,Rohini. He graduated in English (honors) at Sri Venkateswara College and is still pursuing masters in English from Delhi University .

His first book of poems “In the hour of sky ”was published on September 24 , 2018 by Writers Workshop India . He explains in his preface that the philosophy behind the title of his book is that an artist is born in the hour of sky , for he/she dares to flap their wings and in the process realizes that he/ she can fly. During the process of creation , an artist’s mind introspects, imagines, critiques ,expresses the conscious and unconscious ideas , all simultaneously . Some essence of this poetic philosophy can be found in the lines of his poem “The fallen star”: “each day you live, each day you die. For you were born in the hour of sky”. His grandfather passed away in 2014 and father in 2017 , Arijit dedicates this book to them . It is an ode to the spirit of poetry he imbibed from them and an offering to the realization which he has now of the emotional poetry sessions which he witnessed when he was a child .
He was lucky to be born in a culturally rich family. His father was a famous Bengali poet and professor of political science in Delhi University, his mother is the director of library department of Manak Bhavan ITO and is very fond of reading. His grandfather was a great scholar. His sister is seven year elder to him and also a creative writer. Arijit started writing after watching her write short stories and poems. Since both his parents were working so he spent more time with his grandfather and became very attached to him. He grew up listening Bengali poems of Tagore and often used to be a part of poetic discussions between his dad and grandfather which were so emotional for them but not for the little five year old laaddoo (Arijit) .However he began to understand art from an early age and wrote his first poem in hindi “mera ghar hai mera apna ”. In class seventh he had a bet with his grandfather and translated a Bengali parody which his grandfather made of one’s Tagore’s songs into an English poem that he began his poetic journey .Then his dai maa (governess) gifted him a diary to jot down his poems. Grandfather was very happy and proud to lose the bet that day .
Being a Bengali , football came into his blood naturally. His dad and grandfather were both huge football fans and Maradona supporters and his dad was so passionate about football that he used to stay up late night watching football matches. At the age of seven , he went to his dad and his father explained him the game and it’s rules. As a child he wanted to be a professional footballer and his dream was to win world cup for Argentina. He was passionate about football more than poetry but due to lack of infrastructure and stability in football sport in India, like most good talents , he had to stop his journey there. The pain of this shattered dream and a bit of a broken heart was perhaps what an artist needed and at that time poetry lifted his spirits and gave wings to his sky. Though football and poetry for him are the same as he believes “There is a deep music of sportsmanship in poetry and deep poetry in football for those who are willing to listen.”
By the age of fourteen poetry became one of his favourite activities and he had written around fifty poems . the poems he wrote in this period of early development, were all in rhyme. At the age of sixteen he had written around hundred and twenty poems in Hindi and English . During his senior secondary education , he was involved in theatre , quizzing , football and a lot of other activities .But the few poems he wrote are very momentous for him. He used to enjoy writing poems for hours and hours on end . These poems would help him experiment and learn more about the craft. It developed his interest and became the foundation of his later works.
When he came to college , he found that there was no such platform for artists , writers and poets that can encourage their spirit and motivate them to do better so he decided to create one.
It was during the way back home one august rainy day that the idea of opening a creative writing society stumbled across his head. He decided he’ll name it “Petrichor” which means the smell of the soil after rain, since this idea had given him a new zest and freshness.
After some meetings, he was suggested to open a creative writing club first under the English department and begin work there. He worked extensively in the English Literary Association (ELA) in his first year and got basic understanding of how events were organized in the college.
Around the beginning of second year he got all the permissions to establish and begin work through a creative writing club under english department and a core team of Petrichor was formed .
The central philosophy of Petrichor was to provide a free creative and intellectual space for all the artists and writers in college , where they can share their works without any inhibition or fear of judgement . There were no language barriers since creativity had no one language .

After lot of efforts, he and his team’s struggle was finally rewarded. Arijit became the founder president of Petrichor – the official creative writing society of the college . He was declared as the youth ambassador of Delhi Poetry Festival and took Petrichor to organize a collaborative poetry performance at Oxford Bookstore ,CP. Many of his works can be found at his blog by the name of “Magicrealistboy” at wordpress site . Now a masters student and one book old , he is doing what poets do best . Learning to flow in stranger tides on the sea of poetry.

By – Mansi Bhatt