Here’s What North East’s Padma Awardee Poet Mamang Dai Told About Jayanta Mahapatra

Mamang Dai and Devdas Chhotray at the maiden Jayanta Mahapatra Memorial Lecture organized by the Ketaki Foundation Trust(KFT) in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Recollecting the strong bond between late poet Jayanta Mahapatra and his colleagues from the North-East, Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi awardee, Mamang Dai—on Tuesday said there was much to celebrate about the former’s life and his legacy would continue to inspire poets and poetry enthusiasts for years to come.

Dai, who is a noted poet, novelist and journalist from Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, made this remark while addressing the audience at the maiden Jayanta Mahapatra Memorial Lecture organized by the Ketaki Foundation Trust(KFT) at Geeta Govinda Sadan, Bhubaneswar.

“I know Jayantada was very much a part of the Northeast. Jayantada was at first the poet in an English textbook where college kids were reading his The Captive Air of Chandipur- on- Sea, but soon became captive to Jayantada’s warm heart and his self-effacing modesty,” she added.

The event witnessed the presence of many dignitaries, writers, lovers of literature, and media persons. Noted poet and Trustee, KFT, Rabindra K Swain presided over the meeting and highlighted the contribution of Mahapatra to the field of Indian English poetry and his association with KFT over a period of two decades. He also announced that Jayanta Mahapatra Memorial Lecture will be an annual event of KFT.

Devdas Chhotray, a distinguished figure in the literary world, graced the occasion as Guest of Honour. He also reminisced his association with Mahapatra and how his works influenced the younger generation of Odia poets.

Renowned poets, Manua Dash, Kedar Mishra, Basudev Sunani, Pratikshya Jena and Probal Majumdar read out the selected poems of Mahapatra in Odia and English.