Assamese Poet Honoured

At a glittering ceremony at held on 26th July,2002 at Rabindra Bharati auditorium in Hyderabad, the award was presented to him by Hon’ble Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. C. Rangarajan. This award has been instituted by Joshua Foundation in memory of eminent Telegu poet & Padma Bhusan recipient Gurram Joshua . Shri Phukan is the 7th receipient of this prestigious award given annually given to outstanding poets in the country whose works give expression to progressive ideas, humanism and humanitarian values. Shri Nilamani Phukan, one of the most acclaimed Assamese poets is a fellow of the Sahitya Academy . He has published seven collections of poems : Surya heno nami ahe ei Nadiyedi( The Sun, they say comes down along this river,1963), Nirjanatar Sabda (Sound of Silence,1965), Aru Ki Naisabda (what more soundlessness,1968), Phuli Thaka Suryyamukhi Phultor Phale(Towards the Sunflower in Bloom, 1972), Kaint, Golap Aru Kaint (Thorns, Roses and Thorns, 1975), Kavita,1980 and Nrityarata Prithvi,1985 along with an anthology of Indian tribal love poems under the title Aranyar Gaan,1993. A collection of his poems selected by himself has come out under the title Golapi Jamur Lagna (Time for the Rose Berries,1977). His poems have also been published under the title Sagartalir Sankha, selected and edited by Hiren Gohain in 1994. Accepting the award Shri Phukan read out from one of his poems : Do Not Ask Me How I Have Been Do not ask me how I have been I haven't asked me either down the Kolong flows a young, female torso What I was last night king, hermit, farmer, labourer lover, rebel, poet a tiger looking for waterholes after the kill I forgot what I was Do not ask me how I have been After all I am not alone for, even after the last supper I have not bid adieu nor could I take my leave I have not laughed since Auschwitz nor cried either And where can I go I forgot where I came from the day clings on to life vomiting blood the bones and bits trudge along the road with wry laughter Do not ask me how I have been for dogs in coital ecstasy in shop-front showcases at the Bhutnath grounds the blind Kaali fancies a girdles of male genitals. For everyone has the same fear even the dead to say or not to say to do or not to do to open the door or the window for, this long wait since then Fibs lies pretence deceit Youth cruel kind Do not ask me how I have been because it's darkness now Now even it flickers Now even it glimmers adversity travail disaster and in their wake the banner of man's blood For in my trousers pockets I carry two forbidden hands a bullet reddens in flight in my bosom for, it is silence all around the terrible din of peace Do not ask me how I have been down the Kolong flows a young, female torso because, for forty-two hours my corpse lay there on the footpath of Guwahati. For even now I have my eyes open even my death stares open eyed for, in pool and puddle in creek and lake fish in shoals glisten O you, my ambling horseman. Later in the evening a dinner was hosted by the Hyderabad Assam Association in honour of the visiting poet. Dr. Aroop J. Kalita Gen. Secretary, Hyderabad Assam Association e-mail: aroopjk@yahoo.com