Poetry is at its best when it is precise. The poems that are small in size are poemlets. In Bengali, it is known as Anu kabita. Silences in a poemlet are dominant due to the minimal use of words. There is no noise. The poemlets come as waves and immerse the emotions of the readers, creating a hypnotic effect. To keep this conversation between words and silences Sukrita Paul Kumar, a literary activist and academic, currently the guest editor of Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi, has come up with a collection of poetry, Yellow: Poemlets New and Earlier, that was recently launched at the Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library (IPPL) ICCR Kolkata.

“Why the nomenclature ‘poemlets’? That the poems are small in size is indeed one reason. But does that mean they are somewhat incomplete? Certainly yes, at least till such time as they locate a home in the reader’s mind and get a sense of wholeness. In each reader, I believe a poemlet may find a distinctly unique identity for itself. This is how the fledgling poem comes into its own. While it needs to be complete enough to be able to transmigrate into the reader’s mind, it also needs to respect the reader’s participation in its reception and perhaps even reconstruction,” said Sukrita at the launch of her book at the Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library (IPPL) at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on 29 November.

“It is the silences that lie between the lines, around the images and metaphors, that invoke the reader’s active participation in the birthing of yet another poem from the one received. Such creativity flows as a continuum between the poet and the reader,” Sukrita added. The book launch was an erudite affair opened by Jayadip Sarangi, eminent poet and principal of New Alipore, and attended by eminent city scholars and critics who spoke on the themes of Yellow.

The launch featured a panel moderated by Prof. Sanjukta Dasgupta, president of IPPL, with Amita Ray, Nishi Pulugurtha, Sutanuka Ghosh Roy, Tania Chakravertty, Madhumita Majumdar and Sanghita Sanyal elaborating on specific parts of the book that piqued their attention and their overall thoughts on the volume. While Amita Ray spoke on how the silences embedded in Sukrita’s poemlets invite a participatory role of the readers—a poemlet becomes complete in the reader’s sensibility where the silence merges. Nishi, in her speech, focused on how the genre of the poemlet reminded one of the form poems that laid out a setting beautifully and the genre of the fragment as well. She referred to the first one in the series, “war vignettes, which used the metaphor of dementia to show how it juxtaposed the idea of memory to refer to the important issues that need to be spoken of. Sutanuka praised the way Sukrita uses different colours—blue, yellow, silver and green—to form stunning poetic designs and how with these poemlets, Sukrita has redrawn the boundaries of poetry. Tania began her analysis with a reference to Tagore’s coinage of the term kabitika or poemlet (a diminutive of kabita or poem) and to his collection titled Kanika (1899). She also added that Sukrita’s incomplete poems may be treated as open poems that allow multiple readings and interpretations by the readers. Madhumita Majumdar saw a poet activist wherein the poet invites readers to participate in the ring of consciousness that she creates. She also asserted that Sukrita, through her poems, speaks of the self that is both individual and social and hence a conscious political self. Sanghita Sanyal spoke on how silences in the poemlets create a resounding effect in the mind of the readers. Sanjukta Dasgupta, in her closing remarks, spoke about how the colour “yellow” has different connotations in the West and how it essentially differs from “yellow” in Sukrita’s poemlets. Yellow here stands for all things bright and beautiful, ushering hope. She also made a thorough analysis of the poemlets, adding that Sukrita has taught us a new way to write poems.

The panel discussion was followed by readings from the book by Ajanta Paul, poet and principal of Women’s Christian College; Chandrani Mukherjee, Sudeshna Chakravorty, Rohit Dey, Averi Saha, Sarbani Chakravarti and Rituparna Khan. This was followed by reading translations by ace translator Navamalati Neog Chakravarty, Rajorshi Patranabis, Mandakini Bhattacherya, Madhu Srivastav, Nabanita Sengupta, Aparna Singh and Sufia Khatoon.

The writer is associate professor of English, Tarakeswar Degree College, University of Burdwan

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