CELEBRATION OF LOCAL: RITUPARNA KHAN

Tolly Nullah

Succor to life since days of yore,
a connector to livelihood she was.
Once a glory of Kolkata then, is now an
abandoned story in yellowed pages.

The lifeline between
Vidyadhari river and Adi Ganga
has been bottlenecked by streets,
gardens and bridges.

The body does not continue
any more in her fluidity
but buries herself in
mud tint flesh.

Her paint in blue is scraped
off her, leaving a grey translucence
rippling till now, rising and ebbing
at every night end and day fall.

Jungled in tombstones of concrete,
she is struggling for her breath.
Lost river she is, who wants to
revert to her pristine glory.

Because she knows,
when rivers lose their status,
spiritually and materially,
mankind is drained of value.
---

Rituparna Khan is an Assistant Professor in Bidhannagar College, Salt Lake, Kolkata. She has completed her schooling from D.P.S. Farakka. She has graduated in Geography from Lady Brabourne College and attained her Post Graduation Degree in Geography from University of Calcutta. She is a Geographer by profession dealing with anything and everything from natural to human phenomena based on a spatial dimension. However, her inclination to Literature, especially poetry is no less.  With equal enthusiasm she teaches Geography and she practises poetry and literature. A few of her works are published and well appreciated and awarded in print as well as social media.


She has received the Reuel International Award for Best Upcoming Writers in Poetry, 2019 judged by The Significant League in Glopowrimo (Global Poetry Writing Month). Though she is a miniscule figure presently in the galaxy of lofty poets, her poetic bounty is of sparkling nature that cannot bypass serious consideration. 

5 comments :

  1. No poet is miniscule in stature and no poetic achievement is lofty. A poet is the author of her/his own creative universe. Therefore the Sanskrit saying- 'Apare kavya samsare kaviriva prajapati'. Another illustrious poet in Sanskrit Bhababhuti once said- A poet may not strike a chord with a specific era or a chunk of audience/readers, but he/she may have an appeal for either the literature-lovers who existed in the past or who would populate the future as worshippers of creativity- for the reason that- time's flow is nonstop and the world is vast in its expanse with regard to individual tastes and temperaments... Kalohyayam nirabadhi vipula cha prithwi. Thanks.

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  2. No poet is miniscule in stature and no poetic achievement is lofty. A poet is the author of her/his own creative universe. Therefore the Sanskrit saying- 'Apare kavya samsare kaviriva prajapati'. Another illustrious poet in Sanskrit Bhababhuti once said- A poet may not strike a chord with a specific era or a chunk of audience/readers, but he/she may have an appeal for either the literature-lovers who existed in the past or who would populate the future as worshippers of creativity- for the reason that- time's flow is nonstop and the world is vast in its expanse with regard to individual tastes and temperaments... Kalohyayam nirabadhi vipula cha prithwi. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No poet is miniscule in stature and no poetic achievement is lofty. A poet is the author of her/his own creative universe. Therefore the Sanskrit saying- 'Apare kavya samsare kaviriva prajapati'. Another illustrious poet in Sanskrit Bhababhuti once said- A poet may not strike a chord with a specific era or a chunk of audience/readers, but he/she may have an appeal for either the literature-lovers who existed in the past or who would populate the future as worshippers of creativity- for the reason that- time's flow is nonstop and the world is vast in its expanse with regard to individual tastes and temperaments... Kalohyayam nirabadhi vipula cha prithwi. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How the comment got posted thrice...?? May be from some technical glitch.

    ReplyDelete
  5. beautiful poem, depicting the sordidness of Tolly Nullah

    ReplyDelete

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