Voices and Vision: The First IPPL Poetry Anthology | Poetry |
Edited by Nishi Pulugurtha and Nabanita Sengupta | Virasat Art Publication
 (November 2021) | ISBN- 9789392281143 | Paperback | pp 162 | Rs. 300
 

“The whole edifice of our known world has cracked up
and crumbled.” (Out of Joint, 21)

A pandemic hit world has been quite a different and difficult one, and for those who have stepped out of that storm, nothing can describe it better than this quote from Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore:

And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.

Nothing escapes poetry and it is interesting to note and read how poets are grappling with a world that is still in the clutches of a pandemic, but that pandemic now looms in the background. There are echoes of it that one cannot escape from, nor can one close one’s eyes and ears to it. It surrounds us and it is here to stay. The poets know it all too well as they gather to sing songs of victory and strength and sorrow and loss.

“On rails of social distancing
run trains of time.
Fishplates of poetry join us 
but not let us meet.” (Tagore in Times of Corona, 28)

Gathering together a stellar group of poets, the anthology beautifully edited by Nishi Pulugurtha and Nabanita Sengupta brings together voices nationally—as can be metaphorically seen on the cover of the book, which has a collection of pens and pencils bound together with a tri-coloured ribbon. This is the first IPPL (Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library, Kolkata) anthology. As mentioned in the editorial of the book, IPPL “seeks to find avenues of exchange between poetry, translations of poetry from different Indian languages and other forms of visual and performing arts.” (19) What emerges from this book is an interesting mix of poetry, written in English and Bengali languages. The collection brings up with it an interesting change in how anthologies ought not to stick with just one particular language but can extend and include languages that one can relate to/with at more close level. It has been a refreshing change to see the rise of anthologies from India that retain the original languages in which the works are written and provide a translation as well. There are times, as can be seen in this particular anthology when a poem is interspersed with sentences written in Bangla. The marked shift from what one expects from an anthology in English is a significant one, as well as the breaking down of the idea of what it is supposed to be.

The poems that are part of this anthology are eclectic in nature. Without naming the poets, I will share a few extracts from this beautiful book. Since all these voices came together to create this book, the voices mingle, merge and yet retain their distinct flavour. It is in search of these varied flavours that, through these few extracts, will open up a world of powerful poetry for its readers and its listeners. Some poems capture nature and how it is entwined with the existence of one’s self and how one expresses oneself.

“For flowers are too full of poetry.” (A Shakespearean Sonnet, 26)

And the nectar that these flowers contain gets ‘distilled’ as one tries to grapple with the realities of the world that one is now supposed to breathe in.

“The warmth of breath
on my mask
masquerades I live…” (The Real, 29)

It is a world on the move, and there is a noiseless submission to the vagaries of life.

“Shuffle shuffle scuffle work morning the city moves its
Feet reluctant to leave the beds and chai and hit the street
the longer it takes the more complicated it gets…” ( Shuffle, shuffle, scuffle, 33)

And while life does get complicated, the only solace one at times finds is, in his past—the safe space of childhood for some that one continues to recreate in one’s memory.

“Mangoes delightfully dripping
      With stories laced in juicy memories…
It grew unhindered claiming space
soulfully, in the wafting fragrance
from my grandmother’s kitchen.” (Mangoes, 39)

For some, it goes back to specific moments that have been sketched in one’s mind.

“…and now close the bygone days and nights
the late blooming flowers acquire a new hue
the Simul tree tall enough, comes to say a hello.” ( Poila Baisakh, 54)

Coming back to reality, one begins to question not just one’s sense of self but also the space that one is supposed to occupy in the real world. The constructions that one creates to interact with the world, have been questioned.

“Here I am an untimely swallow
Flung in by a wind of adventure
In the wrong season. The mynas,
Sparrows and crows share their perches
With me, but this city is not mine…” ( Delhi/Dilli, 45)

But the heart yearns for a space to call one’s own –

“I learnt and unlearnt addresses
year after year,
home after home,
till I made one
with a room of my own.” ( Search for the Real Home, 86)

Home is exactly what this book provides in these poems. What makes this book interesting is that it retains the original language in which a few poems here have been written and provides translations in English; making this a wholesome experience for those who are familiar with the original language. This is what syncretism is all about; wherein the languages come together to create an atmosphere for its readers of wholesomeness. Voices and Vision is truly a coming together of the sounds and what one beholds outside and within.