Bohag is the first month of the Assamese calendar. In tandem with the rhythms of nature, it begins the season of growth and regeneration after a dry, desolate spell. Each sight, sound, and nuance is unique to the month. Here’s a humble attempt to capture these.
Fine white thread
Edged with red
Awaken looms.
The foxtail orchid blooms.
Silent hides
Now drawn tight
Sing the first tremulous notes.
From the hilltop echoes
The songs of the Kuli
The Keteki.
The horns of the buffalo bleat
While maidens pleat
Their mekhelas golden.
Rituals from times olden
Call for dances and songs
From every heart that longs
For love;
Whilst above
Clouds congregate
To regenerate
Parched terrains
With spring rains.
Composed by Santanu Phukan, Retd. Professor, English dept, Cotton University, Assam, India
About the Book
Check out the book Reflections from the Heart- Anthology of 100 Poems by Dr Bhaskar Bora, Merry Baruah, and Santanu Phukan easily emerge as one of the scintillating displays of raw emotions emanating out of the heart of these three poets. This anthology, containing 100 mesmerising poems, makes the readers anticipate every line when they are being read which reiterates the thrust it exerts. One can find a gripping and potent force which belies the surface of the anthology thereby making it situated right in the hearts of the readers.
As nonchalant as it can get, the poems that this anthology carries, open up a multitude of ideas and emotions that these poets nurture in their minds and soul. They, at once, make the readers introspect and reflect upon the myriad ways in which life can lead to the life of an individual. Anyone familiar would Bhaskar Bora, one of the writers of this anthology, would know how troublesome and painstaking his life has been. But, through the poems which are on show for us, the readers, in this anthology, he has almost demolished and dismantled the hurdles of life to emerge as an example; an epitome of unflinching determination and untainted courage. The poems become emblematic in nature, in that, they are so deep in their thoughts and so relentless in the ways they are presented to the readers.
The anthology gets divided into three parts with the poems of Bhaskar Bora covering a major chunk of the anthology. His poems, in particular, not only act as motivation for the readers but also provides them with the space to deeply contemplate the pain which he has endured in his life. The poems, thus, can easily be regarded as the totalising result of different lived experiences and situational circumstances which pioneered the feelings to take the shape of words, and finally into poems. A doctor by profession, to have led his life in a wheelchair after some kind of difficulties related to neurosurgery, is indeed heart-wrenching. Poetry, then, can be said that, acts as the outlet for him to vent out his turmoil and the emotions of the mind. A lot of poems in this anthology by him depict the angst the poet has gone through in his life which makes the anthology even more fast-paced in its approach. Although the fatal neurosurgery complicacy led to disability in terms of making him immobile, it was poetry and the emotions of his heart that laid the foundation for engaging in creative output. Although he was immobile physically, the poems penned down by him have well and truly made him move places in the hearts of the readers. The poems, if they are to be discerned, are equally inspirational and soothing as there is an air of homely atmosphere in their presentation, some of which concern his family members. Poems like “A Moment or Two,” “My Land of Dreams,” “The War Within” etc. speak of the versatility that the poet has showcased while flaunting his artistic genius.
