Poetry Beyond Borders: Part 2

by

Mirela Necula & Jyotirmaya Thakur

***

ABOUT THE POET: Mirela Necula

Born on 10 May 1964, from Romania (country), Bucharest (town); Graduate of the faculty Accounting and Management Informatics

Publications in magazine:

Exclusivity in Albanezul Magazine -Romania

Romanian Grai Românesc Magazine

Parnas Magazine XXI

Adrian Paunescu Flame

Bengali Magazine Literary Store Sahitto

Mahamag International Magazine India

Lirik Graph Magazine Romania

Nava Nepal Time News Paper -Nepal

International Literary Union Magazine

Literary Voice-Romania

Bangladesh Poet House

The Jasmine and Love Colors Magazine

Vitrina cu Oglinzi Magazine- România

Darpan Magazine India

Rise Magazine India

Ananda Asrham Abhirup Sahitto Poribar & Sahittya Puran Magazine

Charukala Magazine Bangladesh

London Times News

Ankur Magazine USA

Sahitya Subarno E-Magazine

Awards received:

International Award World Icon of Peace" WIP

Special Award at the International Literary Competition "Drops of Soul" Italy

Award Leoaica Tanara, Iubirea Nichita Stănescu Festivalul Concurs “ȚARA MAMĂ ROMÂNIA

The Trophy to Promote Literature Globally

Excellence Award of the World Poetry Championship 

The Best Poet - Bangladesh International Literary Group

Excellence Award of Casa Poética Magia Y Plumas

Golden Pen Award - Casa Poética Magia Y Plumas

Gold Sun Medal -  Casa Poetica Magia Y Plumas

The Best Monthly Poem Award – Chotuskon Sahitya Gon Biswabango Bangla Sahitya Academy Anumodit- Bangladesh

ABOUT THE POET: JYOTIRMAYA THAKUR

     Jyotirmaya Thakur is an internationally renowned poet and writer of twenty five books . She has won numerous awards, for both her literature and humanitarian efforts. She serves on various prestigious Committees as Ambassador in many literary and humanitarian organisations. Her work has been published in more than 500 anthology, magazines , internationally and translated in many languages.

     She exemplifies the ideal that writing is more than just words on paper, it is a means of creating positive change in the world.

     She started writing when she was seven , singing the lyrics in her lonely moments to trees and fauna .As a writer she has not been satisfied to settle on just one style, but has sought to develop her craft by adoption and mastery of an ever increasing number of techniques. From her early days utilising the predominant rhyming couplet in her poetry, there has been an evolution in writing technique incorporating more complex rhyming patterns, modern freestyle and prose. This development of craft serves as an important lesson for new poets, that a good writer is not a static entity, but someone who should continually strive to learn new ways of communicating their meaning in order to avoid stylistic stagnancy. To this end Jyotirmaya Thakur has written about the history of poetry and the development of different schools of writing, with an emphasis on the idea that poetry is continually evolving alongside societal development, in a symbiotic relationship where each is affecting and serving the purposes of the other.

     In her writing there are frequent references to the subjects of poetry and the poet, where Jyotirmaya Thakur seeks to gain a greater understanding of the motivations and ideals that underlie them. In a historical context poetry has started from an oral communication of facts about resources in hunter gatherer communities, then progressed with the gaining of greater human consciousness to contain written ideas of spiritual surroundings and self, to the modern online invocations of a celestial, cerebral and cause based nature. Beside this evolution of poetry are corresponding increases in complexity of society, perspectives of the Universe and mediums of sharing poetry, that allow for greater scope of subject,  intellectual experimentation and possible audience for the poet.

     In conjunction with the examination of the evolution of poetry, Jyotirmaya Thakur explores the changes that have occurred in the definition of poet, where increasing complexity of poetry and society, sees a diversification of the role of the poet from a communicator of facts to a commentator on innumerable facets of individuality in a vast range of social circumstances. The poetic identity thus moves from a role being influenced by social change, to attaining the role of a person who has the ability to institute social change.

     This concept is central to Jyotirmaya Thakur’s writing, where she sees her purpose as a writer to not only factually describe her surroundings and the people within it, but to highlight the negative aspects of the world around her and advocate for positive social development towards the cessation of wrongs and injustice. Her ability to create accurate poetic portraits of individuals and their lifestyles is utilised to educate readers not only about the people and lifestyles she perceives, but also how the modernisation of society has negatively impacted them. How particular groups are prone to marginilisation in society due to discrimination inherent in flawed social systems. The descriptions of the plight of traditional artisans being supplanted by mass production consumerism, women’s rights suppressed by patriarchy and children from lower socioeconomic groups being condemned to poverty and slavery, are notable examples of how she uses her poetry for humanitarian causes.

      In a like fashion Jyotirmaya Thakur is a staunch supporter of environmental causes, painting beautiful pictures of Nature with accurate observations of plants and animals, the environments they inhabit. Then contrasting these idealistic scenes of Nature with the damage done by humanity in its pursuit of greed, how traditional small scale land practices that worked with the natural system have been replaced by modern large scale exploitation of resources that destroy the natural order of things.

     The imagery used by Jyotirmaya Thakur ranges from the intimacy of minute detail to celestial events of a universal scale, this spectrum allowing her to create delicate poetic portrayals of objects and people, through to broader poetic landscapes of society. In the imagery is a mechanism for conveying feelings and emotions that give context to the subject. There is an artistry to her writing akin to a painter using bold brush strokes to create a background, upon which she can then lightly paint in the smaller details to make the picture come to life. This creation of life in her writing is testament to Jyotirmaya Thakur’s immense powers of imagination, coupled with her astute perceptions of the world and dexterous skills as a writer.

     Redolent in her creative process is a total honesty in what she is writing about, so that in her descriptions of her surroundings the reader is transported viscerally there. In her discussion of humanitarian issues a total conviction is conveyed about the causes she promotes and how positive action can change the world, that will inspire readers to get out into society and make a difference.

     This honesty can at times be quite confronting, with not all the scenes being pleasant and hope for the future balanced by the stark reality of the present. Nowhere is this dichotomy of truth more apparent than in her writings about herself as a poet and a person. Her joy of writing is contrasted with her perceived shortcomings as a writer, her positive affirmations of herself as a female voice for positive change countered with total openness about her own human weaknesses. This is especially true of her poetry about personal relationships, where equal weight is given to the wonderful moments where she has experienced love and the dark times that have followed personal betrayal.

     Jyotirmay Thakur is a writer of considerable intelligence, skill and imagination, who has managed to succeed in multiple genres. She has a deep understanding of what constitutes a writer,  having laid out a framework of history, techniques and purpose, that demonstrates not only a keen intellect, but also a belief that both the poet and poetry, are continually evolving along with society. The philosophy underlying her work is that there are positive things and thoughts in the world, that these can be used as a template for positive personal and social change. As such her writing encompasses both the recreational pursuit of poetry and the education of younger poets that their poetry can contribute to positive change in society.

Vincent Stead -Australian Poet and Reviewer.