‘ପ୍ରାଚୀନ କାବ୍ୟ ବିତାନ’ ପ୍ରାଚୀନ କାବ୍ୟ-କବିତାଗୁଡ଼ିକୁ ନେଇ ଏକ ଉଚ୍ଚକୋଟୀର କାବ୍ୟ ସଂକଳନ । ଏଥିରେ ପ୍ରାକ୍ ସାରଳା, ସାରଳା, ପଞ୍ଚସଖା ତଥା ମଧ୍ୟଯୁଗର ବିଶିଷ୍ଟ କାବ୍ୟ-କବିତା ସଂଗୃହିତ ହୋଇଛି । ପ୍ରାଚୀନ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା-ସାହିତ୍ୟର ଦୁର୍ଲ୍ଲଭ କାବ୍ୟ-କବିତାଗୁଡ଼ିକୁ ଗୋଟିଏ ସଂକଳନୀ ଭିତରେ ଖୋଜି ପାଇବାର ଏହା ଏକ ଅଭିନବ ପ୍ରୟାସ । ଆଶା କରୁଛୁ, ସଂକଳନସ୍ଥ କାବ୍ୟ-କବିତା ଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଖୁବ୍ ସହଜରେ ପାଠକୀୟ ଆଦୃତିଲାଭ କରିପାରିବ ।

Priyatama is a poetry collection by eminent Odia poet Phani Mohanty. A prolific Odia poet, Phani Mohanty has more than sixteen poetry collections into his credit. He has received Odisha Sahitya Academy award for the poetry collection “Bishadjoga” and Central Sahitya Academy award for the poetry collection “Mrugaya”.

Re-reading Jayanta Mahapatra is a selection of the seminal poems of poet Padmashree Jayanta Mahapatra, meticulously selected by Indian English poet Professor Nandini Sahu, with a long critical introduction by her. The book highlights the quality of tranquility and quietude about his poetry, and celebrates the nostalgic elements of Mahapatra’s poetry. While the book hardly confines him as a ”Romantic’, as he is not prepared to accept the capability of romantic imagination-the book problematizes Mahapatra’s dismissal of the term ‘romantic’ vis-à-vis himself. . Nandini argues, his poetry reveals a self that is secluded and withdrawn, but it is romantic to the core. Mahapatra began his poetic career as a poet of love. His earlier poetry tried to capture the multiple facets of love, so as to relate it to the redolent conformation of life. Even if Mahapatra is ‘rueful’ about his beginning as a love poet, yet it is through his love poetry that he could learn how to establish a rapport with the cultural tradition in his later poetry. Nandini venerates his poetry; as a fellow poet herself, she is proud of belonging to the historiography of Indian English poetry that Mahapatra shaped. His poetry has been the poetry of departure into the self, like a Pantheist, where it is unadorned, moving and still, sans pretense and insincere masks.

This is not a critique of Jyotirmayee’s poems which comprise this anthology. I will rather share with the readers my impressions the poems have created in me. I feel tempted first, to say a few words about two poems; “Gopal” and “Victory” which engaged my attention more than any other poem in the anthology did. I will try to say why.

“Gopal “is about an uncomplaining old mother, whose son takes him to Kumbha Mela, not on a pilgrimage but consign her to its massive crowd and declare her untraceable and lost. She is conscious of the intrigue of her son and daughter-in-law for whom she is now a dispensable burden. But she makes it to the Mela not on a pilgrimage as she consoles herself to have the Supreme Gopal, Sri Krishna, as her emotional and spiritual replenishment. The mother, as always, through this sacrifice, becomes resplendent and pervasive.

The world offers alternatives to cling to even when it appears to be a void with all possibilities non-existent. This sense of hope permeates most of her poems in this anthology. Jyotirmayee’s anguish is evident as the spectacle of cruelty, hypocrisy, deception and rape etc. engulf values and block the path to the moral realm. This divinely ordained Mother Earth is battered and maimed by these evils, but ultimately these evils, gloom and frustration will be dissipated by the miraculous flute bringing bliss and ecstasy to the soul. This hope, I repeat, is echoed in several poems; there is an end to the present tunnel; there is always a promise of a green territory; birds chirping in gay abandon; bees collecting honey and above all, the gloom-dispelling tune of Sri Krishna’s flute who is envisioned as the final saviour. Her conviction is rooted in the Indian philosophy of Time’s cyclic order as hinted in the poem “River”.

The second poem I have in mind is “Victory”. A seed accidentally dropped in an inhospitable place, sprouts. Green stem carrying pink flower symbolises the eternal flow of life. Unafraid of hostile condition, the plant in fact registers victory of life. This reiterates the poet’s perception that this world is a divine domain where good will emerge victorious.

Some of the poems are the poet’s meditation as she leads a life of forced quarantine due to Covid-19. At one end such life is contrasted with the free movement of butterflies. Owing to despair, the world turns out to be godless, patients die in quarantine hospitals. The dignity of a corpse does not matter as it is distanced due to fear of the pandemic.

The despair and hardship forced upon man by this deadly epidemic are real. Man must endure it as long as it is not eliminated. On the other hand, however, as the poet looks at it, this curse is a passing phenomenon. Finally, life will remain triumphant.

Besides some of these, there are others based on current events which have national, racial, human and even feminist connotation. The tragedy at Galwan Valley, the murder of George Floyd by White police in Minneapolis, the death (call it murder) of a pregnant elephant that follows the fatal bombs masquerading as food and the protest of Kangana that a part of her house was demolished exemplify the above observations. Jyotirmayee’s penchant for myth is another aspect in this anthology which arrests the reader’s attention. Ganga, Mist and even Taapoi etc. are given poetic treatment in the mythic perspective. Myth as a part of cultural heritage is never obsolete. It retains its relevance and enriches thoughts through ages.

The poetic statements are varied, characterized by simplicity and clarity. Jyotirmayee avoids intellectualizing or philosophizing her statement. Such ostentatious exercise has created enough mischief in the realm of contemporary poetry and has distanced poetry from the reader. Her poem reveals itself in an autonomous and effortless manner.