Binoy Roy
A writing is appealing when it well corresponds to the hearts and souls of the common mass of a particular landmass and beyond, speaks the socio-political, religious and geographical issues of the contemporary time and beyond. The book I have read recently is entitled Wada Phir Ohi. The book was written by a renowned Indian-Bengali writer Debarati Bhattacharya. I have not found a translation of the title as near as ‘Promise the Same Again’. Though the title reads in Hindi, the poems are written in Bangla. The writer indeed carries a great family legacy of intellectuals and maestros but she herself made a mark on earth to be recognized by her own name at home and abroad. I strongly feel the book authored by Debarati Bhattacharya well corresponds to the hearts and souls of the common mass of India and its adjacent landmasses.
The book “Wada Phir Ohi” is a compilation of a series of amazing poems and each of the poem is very compelling that the readers are bound to pause for indulging in the recollection of the past incidents, think of what is going on at present, and also, foresee the future yet to come. Therefore, it is seen that Debarati Bhattacharya uses the backdrop of India’s past, present and future days ahead. Some poems also beautifully sketch the greatness of India as well as the shortcomings of the Indians. The poems are indeed much thought provoking and they grab you in such a way that you are propelled to turn the page next. As you move forward by reading, at a certain point you find no other page anymore to read on. However, the poems are not centred on a particular theme but rather a myriad of themes run through the poems. Therefore, in line with the varied themes, the poems of the book can be classified into varied genera: Indianness, patriotism, rebellion, culture and, socio-politics and, above all, religion. The poems in the book are definitely contemporary and transcend over the past and future to come as well which is perfectly able to echo the Indians’ past surge for freedom from the outside colonizing masters and the mind-sets of people, political, societal and religious temperament and sentiment both, culture and their way of going about.
The very first poem of the book is a masterpiece. It reminds the readers of the Indian patriotism and the Indian Independence through struggles and sacrifices to the point of blood shedding death of the valorous youths and the tragedy of the partition. The writer describes their spirit of ‘surge for freedom’ among the youths as such that they were ready to sacrifice everything, even the very love of their beloved. They earned freedom as they began to chant; we are free! we are free! However, the joy of freedom was marred as a large religious community demanded their share of independence through a separate portion of land from the Major religious group of India at the time. Thus, came the scary partition and the bloodshed of humans as they killed each other based on the religious beliefs reflected in the second and third poems entitled “Voy” (Fear), Monchoke (To the Stage). A number of the following poems keep reminding the furiousness of the religious extremism that caused or will continue to cause the inhuman activities of human beings as long as it prevails. Through a next series of poems, the speaker criticizes the so-called Indian patriots and the selfish leaders who pretend to love and protect the people and the motherland but are actually escapists and are silent to the injustice done to the common people of the country. She voices against the economic injustices done to the poor people which results in shattering their dreams of life. She is also worried about the insecurity of the people of India and the sexual violence against the women of the country. That’s why she rebelliously urges the true patriots to defend her people with an iron hand even to the extreme of lifting up weapons if needed as the line reads, “tmr kotin hate bojro kin ai? (Why can’t you take up arms?) The Indianness or the patriotism and love for the nation are also reflected in some of the poems as she warns to be crazy for the love of the country and the safety of her people: unmad hote pari ami shudhu tomay valobeshe (I can go mad for the love of you).
Nevertheless, the speaker is optimistic about the coming of spring or the good times soon after the winter: the bad times that affected the country and her people. She is optimistic that spring will bring back the glorious past of the nation and pleads with spring to make the promise again (wada phir ohi). She dreams of ushering a new dawn when her fellow citizens will be free from fear, enjoy the true freedom, and live safely in peace with no injustice done to them despite their differences in sex, creeds and colours. She keeps dreaming that one day her country will flourish in every aspect of life, to be particular economically, where no one will experience the economic injustices and everyone will live their dreams.
At the end, I would conclude by assuring that the book is worth reading and each of the poems is spellbinding which will give you immense satisfaction of having read something though there is a printing error of “repeated printing of two/three poems”. The book will definitely enlighten you and broaden your perspectives about life, society and culture. To be honest, it is indeed very difficult not to like the author and her work Wada Phir Ohi.
(Reviewer Roy is a lecturer of English at Fareast International University.)
