‘Perhaps I am not a poet at all’: Jayanta Mahapatra, who would have been 96 on this day
An When asked why he wrote an autobiography in his 90s, the poet said he ‘wanted to open [his] heart, all [his] indiscretions, and neuroses.’
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It was on October 22 in the year 2022 that I first spoke to the late poet Jayanta Mahapatra. It was his 94th birthday. “Happy Birthday, dear poet”, I wrote to him from Kerala and introduced myself. having read a few issues of his journal Chandrabhaga earlier, I had decided to get in touch with the spirit behind it.
Mahapatra had just completed his autobiography Bhor Motira Kanaphula in Odia, and published a special volume of his iconic Chandrabhaga magazine in honour of the late Kunwar Narain, the poet – a friend he admired tremendously. It was no surprise that he could accomplish so much work with such ease even at his age. He replied to me instantaneously with a deep sense joy, with his usual exuberance. Our conversations continued on the phone and WhatsApp until a few weeks before he died, on August 27, 2023.
Mahapatra, one of the most important poets in India writing in English, differed from many of his peers, particularly the Bombay poets, in ethos and style, carving out a distinct niche and style of his own, rooted in his home state of Odisha. Even though he began writing poetry relatively late, his stupendous pursuit and perseverance earned him...
