Govt official pens Book of Poems.

Swapner Haatpakha – the book of Poem by Sujit Das, a joint Commissioner of Excise Dept.

When the people as a whole are still suffering from the loss and  grief for the sudden demise of Sunil Gangopadhyay the tallest contemporary writer in the Bengali language , city people are happy to some extent for the revelation of a  new poet of their own - Sujit Das and who become famous and cemented a place in the heart of several poets and poem lovers on the publication of his recent book of poems ‘Swapner Haatpakha’ published by Deep Prakashan, Kolkata.  It is the debut collection of poems by 43 year old Bengali Poet and it is certain that he may easily be designated as a next generation breed of poet.  The author is a Joint Commissioner of Excise Department and presently posted at Asansol. Now his name has become the talk of the town in the poetic world  and it is a matter of great astonishment to his fans to think over the matter that how a busy Executive in such a respective position manages time to wander in the mainstream of artistic and intellectual life.

            All his poems touched the heart of legendary poet Sunil Gangopadhyay and he has written in his own hand a foreword for Sujit’s maiden book, “The poems are written very much in a contemporary language.... the poet’s vision for the present happens to be his own achievement’. Sunil has also been categorical in saying, ‘love women and sex, everything has been portrayed with satire and serenity, but without any complexity whatsoever. The first thing that strikes me about ‘Swapner Haatpakha’is the presentation of the book, its cover page and illustrations. What is also worth mentioning about this collection is that almost all the poems may be termed as love poems and has got a varied range from psychedelic ambience, the poet’s childhood, the lush green serene North Bengal to the rigour of urban daily life. Amidst the frequently ironic arena of modern poetry this kind of candidness with a subtle rhythm between the lines will definitely make this book unputdownable.“

            On his choice of words, the poet has set a new trend by frequent use of colloquial English and Hindi words. Such jugglery with words has added a new dimension to this book. like ‘ichchha mrityu athoba satyabati / eta kono choice? / sei arthe lalosa thekei /Mahakabyer Janmo/  tai  aaj theke anarjya bhashyai katha bolbo’, or for that matter, ‘tomake nabojanmo dilo purusher tritiyo nayon / dushcharitror pyancha o taar ashleel shabdo chayon / Riye diona jaanu, dio na jaane jigor / aak khoka ransom, baki ta taar por’.

            What makes the situation of contemporary poets particularly surprising is that it comes at a moment of unprecedented expansion for the art. There have never before been so many new books of poetry published, so many anthologies or literary magazines. Never has it been so easy to earn a living as a poet. The proliferation of new poetry and poetry programs is astounding by any historical measure. Just under a thousand new collections of verse are published each year, in addition to a myriad of new poems printed in magazines both small and large. No one knows how many poetry readings take place each year but certainly it can be said that Sujit Das’s  ‘Swapner Haatpakha’ will  take a great  position in the heart of the readers.

            This book has also been highly appreciated by the renowned Bengali Poet Subodh Sarkar. “Sujit’s debut poetry book in unprecedented words. With such good words and evaluation under his belt, the debutant author seems to be very confident, ‘tomake khoon kore aaglai, notun Jakkho/ tomake goon kore samlai, purono akkhar/ naviti gobheer chhilo, chhiloi tow, bakalome sindhu/ tomake aabir dyay ni je, se bishwoninduk’. “

The book was published in Kolkata by Late Sunil Gangopadhyay along with the august presence of poet Arun Chakraborty (Writer of ‘Lalpaharir Deshe jaa’), Sri Subodh Sarkar and Smt  Bratati  Bandhopadhyay.

The renowned  Poet and Eelocutionist Goutam Chakaraborty of Durgapur is very happy for  his maiden book of poem and says,  “Nothing will ever change the joy and happiness, amongst other things, that poetry has brought to his world. It is a gift and it should always be appreciated. It is a life changer, and a tool for success. No matter how much the world changes, it will never change the power of poetry. Poetry is important because it takes ideas and emotions and feelings that cannot be expressed in  other way and expresses them with imagery and that is why poets are so powerful.”

Fur such grand success the poet told to TOI, “Poetry has the power to make us all better people, either if we chose to write it or spend time reading/listening to it. If I didn’t have my love of poetry, I would not be able to express my feelings on anything, including myself. I realize it is the talent that is the key to my success and for that I will remain grateful.”

Diptangshu Mondal of  Deep Prakashan proudly mentioned that “This book has already achieved the best seller credential and its second edition is on the anvil.”

Kanchan Kumar Chatterjee .

Published in TOI's School Edition.

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