Spotlight On Writers
Pramod Rastogi
- Where do you originate from?
I originate from Lucknow, a city steeped in history and refinement, known for its grace, its literature, and its music. Once the capital of the Nawabs of Awadh, Lucknow remains a cradle of Persian poetry, dance, and exquisite cuisine. Its architectural heritage still carries the quiet grandeur of the past, and its role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 is etched deeply into the memory of the nation. What I cherish most about Lucknow is its cultural ethos — a gentleness of speech, a tradition of courtesy, and a way of living that values beauty in conduct as much as in art. This spirit has stayed with me all my life.
- What do you cherish most about the place you call home?
Though Lucknow shaped my earliest sensibilities, Lausanne is the place I now call home — the city that allowed me to grow, both as a scientist and as a writer. Moving from India, a vast mosaic of languages and cultures, to Switzerland, a much smaller yet equally diverse country, brought with it a rich blend of emotions: the joy of discovery, the pain of distance, and the quiet ache of loneliness that accompanies migration.
Over time, this seeming distance between the two worlds became a bridge. I grew to breathe both the oriental and the occidental, and that wide emotional compass has guided me throughout my journey at EPFL and now, more deeply, in my writing. Switzerland’s high-quality education system, its humility, its stability, and its stunning landscapes have gifted me a sense of belonging. What I cherish most is the opportunity to live between cultures that, though different, meet beautifully within the heart.
- What ignites your creativity?
I was raised in an environment where emotions moved freely, where joy and sorrow walked openly in the streets. My family’s orchards in the village near Lucknow gave me long hours among mango and guava trees, watching farmers plough fields and gather harvests. Those early days of wandering the land quietly awakened my instinct for reflection.
Later, my education at St. Francis’ High School opened the doors of language, giving my emotions a place to land as words. Decades have passed since those village mornings, yet now, in my Emeritus years, I find that the reflections of childhood have returned in a deeper, more contemplative form. My daily walks continue to ignite my creativity. They stir something within me, not a volcano of fire, but a gentle eruption of poetry, ready to spill onto the page.
- Do you have a favorite word, and could you incorporate it into a poetic phrase?
My favorite word is love, the quiet force that shapes lives more profoundly than anything else.
A single word, yet vast as the sky,
Love lingers even when the day fades,
A soft illumination in the chambers of the heart.
- What is your pet peeve?
What unsettles me most is the rudeness or indifference people sometimes show based on race, religion, or social standing. Life is a gift given equally to all of us, and if we belong to this world, it is only by the grace of the One who created us. In His eyes, we are equal, and so we must strive to be equal in each other’s eyes as well.
Humility and gentleness are qualities that make a person truly beautiful. Their absence diminishes us. When kindness is missing, something essential in human nature is lost, and that is what disturbs me most deeply.
- How would you describe the essence of Pramod Rastogi?
If I must speak of myself, though it humbles me to do so, I would say this:
I am a seeker who has wandered across continents, gathering the languages of emotion along the way. A scientist by training and a poet by yearning, I try to hold both precision and tenderness in the same breath. My life has been a quiet attempt to reconcile cultures, distances, and the many selves one becomes while travelling between worlds. At my core, I remain someone who believes in the power of empathy, in the dignity of gentleness, and in the enduring solace of words.
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