Relationship

By Jayanta Mahapatra

Jayanta Mahapatra needs no introduction.
Perhaps any discussion on Indian English Poetry is incomplete without reference to his poetical
works. Mahapatra holds the distinction of being the first Indian English poet to have received the Sahitya Akademi Award (1981) for the current book "Relationship". "Relationship" reveals Jayanta Mahapatra’s great efforts to transform his ‘mute inglorious’ sufferings which he connects with the sufferings of his nameless ancestors whose great sacrifices made them "the stone".

“... his international reputation has been compared to that of Wordsworth...”
The Hindu Sunday, Jan 29, 2006

“Jayanta Mahapatra is what you would expect a poet to be -- shy, pensive, measuring his words as if he were about to share a secret...”
The India Today, September 22, 1997

“... Here, at last, the poet is speaking to me. This is poetry one likes to read, to hear. A poetry that should last.”
The Daily Star, Saturday, January 10, 2004

• Language: English
• Publisher: patternGraphic DigiBooks
• Release date: Dec 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466016323

Jayanta Mahapatra

Jayanta Mahapatra(1928-) needs no introduction. Perhaps any discussion on Indian English Poetry is incomplete without reference to his poetical works. Physicist, bilingual poet and essayist, Jayanta Mahapatra holds the distinction of being the first Indian English poet to have received the Sahitya Akademi Award (1981) for this poem "Relationship". In 2009 he was awarded by Government of India with "Padmashree Award", country's most prestigious award for civilian citizen for his out standing contribution to the field of literature Visit Poet's homepage at www.jayantamahapatra.com

Book preview

… his international reputation has been compared to that of Wordsworth…

The Hindu Sunday, Jan 29, 2006

Jayanta Mahapatra is what you would expect a poet to be -- shy, pensive, measuring his words as if he were about to share a secret…

The India Today, September 22, 1997 

… Here, at last, the poet is speaking to me. This is poetry one likes to read, to hear. A poetry that should last.

The Daily Star, Saturday, January 10, 2004

Relationship

(1981 Indian ‘Sahitya Academy Award’ Wining Poem)

Jayanta Mahapatra

www.patterngraphic.com

Smashwords Edition

Relationship

By Jayanta Mahapatra

Visit poet’s homepage at www.jayanatamahapatra.com

Based on the publication of the version published by

Chandrabhaga Society, Tinkonia Bagicha, Cuttack, 1999

Republished with permission from the poet.

Published in 2011 by patternGraphic

patternGraphic,

NAC Market, Sector-18,

Rourkela, India

[e-mail]

http://patterngraphic.com

First DigiBooks Edition : 2011

Current Samshwords Edition: 2011

© 2011, All rights reserved by Jayanta Mahapatra.

Digital Editions rights owned by patternGraphic, India.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com or the publisher of this book at patternGraphic.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

PG2011B1

Table of Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Notes

About Jayanta

Reviews for Relationship

[Namitha Varma-Rajesh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This little book of poetry by Jayanta Mahapatra, which won the 1981 Kendriya Sahitya Akademi award, is a long poem segmented into 12 parts. The overlaying theme of the poem is loneliness, and an effort to find meanings in relationships. The poems are a curious entangling of crude and finely chiselled images, but both the kinds of images are sharp and powerful. The main imagery is that of Konarka – with the sun, stones, the Mahanadi and myths forming the key metaphors. The images are unexpected, to say the least. For example, Mahapatra says:

“We have come as dreams disguised that pinned us down,/artisans of stone,/messengers of the spirit,/twelve hundred artless brown flowers in passion/to the night in humble brotherhood,/aerial roots of a centuries-old banyan tree;/not taking lives seriously/for our lives are only of the seeds of dreams,/forgetting the cruelties/of ruthless emperors who carved peaceful edicts/on blood-red rock,/forgetting our groans and cries,/the smells of gunsmoke and smoldering flesh,/forgetting the tactics and the strategy/that led to the founding of the infinite distance/inside our watery skulls.”

The images follow each other and build into each other, until they are a mass, un-disentangle-able and binding. Other gems from the poem are:

“Dust and the sun tear open our timorous voices.”

“the suffering of the world returns/like winter’s persistent asthma/year after year.”

“the sleep you wear yourself to/through the smoldering burning-ground/of your granite eyes”

“Voices go in and out of the city gates;/the moment the storm blows, I know I will scramble/to hide the thunder in the thick jackfruit groves/on the other side of the wall,/blackening the seeds of the fruit,/and reddening the soft gums of the unassailable flesh.”