Subhankar Bhaumik's maiden anthology of poems "Ecstasy" pulls heartstrings

Bhaumik, whose flair for writing was well known to only a closed group of friends and relatives, is the new poet on the block with this book of poems that essentially pull the heartstrings with its simple, humane and unmysterious wordings, capturing the many facets of life.

Ecstacy, published by Bhubaneswar based Bird Nest, was launched last week at the south Kolkata residence of the poet in a simple function. 

Dignitaries from various walks of life, including Banoj Tripathy, the eminent scholar and chief advisor of Kendriya Sahitya Academy along with well-known poet  Durgadas Middya, were present at the launch of the book. 

Since his young days in South Point School, Bhaumik was known to his peers as a creative person and later as a student of English literature that restlessness only grew stronger. However, the opportunity to emerge as a published poet came after a long journey as an educationist. 

"My poems are inspired by my inner thoughts of an uncorrupt world, free from squalor. Holistic development of the world and the society is what I dream of and that thought perhaps is reflected in my poems written on a short notice but shaped by my musings since tender days," said Bhaumik, whose next project is a book of short stories.

Inevitably one of the poems in the book is dedicated to the weather-beaten Indian soldier guarding the borders of the nation on the snow-capped Siachen, the highest battlefield on earth where they often die not from the bullets of the antagonistic neighbour, but the unforgiving weather at such freezing heights.

If the poem "The Jawan on the Siachen High" is dedicated to Indian army with a grim reminder to the countrymen on what the soldier there endures, the one titled "As I am Now" is the poet's growing alienation from his surroundings mired by the daily dose of tailored news and mushy TV soap episodes in the name of journalism and entertainment.

"But I am a true optimist and worshipper of Nature and God," said Bhaumik speaking to IBNS.

"I have only let my heart do the talking," said the poet who was profoundly influenced by his late father who encouraged him to write and to whom he looked up to for his idealism.

While a poem like "Mr Bunny" is just a light-hearted take on gluttony, the spirit of Bhaumik's endless fight to find his place under the sun is reflected in his composition like "To be borne in mind" in which he recounts his own struggles, failures and resilience.

As the line goes in this poem: "What matters is how one loses a game, And bounces back smiling to play again."

Priced at INR 195, the book is about to hit the racks in prominent bookstores.

(Reporting by Sujoy Dhar)