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Angshuman Kar
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Without informing us Sometimes our friends change their numbers With however much force we press the green button then And dial the old number It does not ring Sometimes, however, it rings And a grave unknown voice says "Wrong number". Sometimes It rings and I hear "Hello" . . . I think I am talking to my old friend I keep talking. Ten seconds elapse, twenty seconds The line does not get disconnected. Then, after a while, The person who, in a slightly melancholic voice, says "Wrong number", Is also a beggar of words. Without informing him His friends too Have changed their numbers! When Just for a while I stand on the over-bridge It seems as if I'll fall down. The train runs, runs fast. The bridge is shaken. You think—you'll fall down I think—I'll fall down If we reach a small measure of height It seems We'll fall down Any moment! |
Angshuman Kar, a Bengali poet-cum-novelist, is Professor of English at the University of Burdwan, West Bengal. He was also the Secretary of the Eastern Region, Sahitya Akademi. He has fifteen collections of poems (Khelna Pistol, Nasho Square Feeter Jadukar, Jehadi Tomake, Amar Sonar Harin, Pigmira Likhchhe etc.), two novels (Paribartan and Ja Byaktigata), three novellas (Bikhyato Hoibar Sahoj Upay, Nagar Pataner Kale and Che O Kalabati), a memoir (25 Paysar Itihas Boi), an anthology of essays (Sada Kalor Sat Rong), a collection of short stories (Ami O Amar Atmiyoswajon) and a collection of English translations of his poems (The Magician of Nine Hundred Square Feet) to his credit. Till date Kar has received seven prestigious awards: Krittibas Award in 2007, Paschim Banga Bangla Akademi Award of the West Bengal Government in 2009, Bangiya Sahitya Parishad Award in 2012, Mallicka Sengupta Award in 2014, Urahlpul Puroskar in 2015, Haripada Sahitya Mandir Award in 2009 and Kabita Pakshik Award in 1998. Angshuman Kar has read his poems in different poetry festivals held in the USA, Scotland, Bangladesh and several states of India. As a member of the Indian Delegation to Germany, Kar has read his poems in different universities of Germany. He also represented India in the SAARC Poetry Festival of Young Poets in 2008 and in the Closing Ceremony of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, organized jointly by Ministry of Culture, Government of India and Bangladesh Government in 2012. As the recipient of the Australia-India Council Fellowship Kar has pursued research on Aboriginal petitions in different universities in Australia. He has presented papers/ chaired sessions in several national and international seminars/conferences in India and abroad including those held at Oxford and Edinburgh. Two of his most recent critical books are Contemporary Indian Diaspora: Literary and Cultural Representations (Rawat) and The Politics of Social Exclusion in India: Democracy at the Crossroads (published by Routledge and co-edited with Harihar Bhattacharya and Partha Sarkar). Kar has also completed an Australia-India Council supported project designed for translating Australian Aboriginal poetry into Bengali. Kar is a member of the Advisory Board (Bengali) of Sahitya Akademi. Kar has also edited the legendary poetry magazine, Krittibas.
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