Fall Poetry at Learning Center in Sharon, MA-

SAPNE Meeting of November 23, 2013

Bijoy Misra

Fall is the most important season in New England and Sharon is acclaimed as the most livable town in Massachusetts in a public poll.  SAPNE was invited by Sharon resident Arun Choudhury to host its Fall meeting at 308 Learning Center in Sharon.  About 20 miles from Boston, we reached there on a pleasant November afternoon.  Arun and his family had prepared elaborate hospitality for the group.  Achyut Adhikary, Meena Adhikary, Aruna Pandit, Pramodbhai Thaker, Chandrakant Shah, Bijoy Misra, Praneetha Mukhatira, Nishka Mukhatira, Vijay Bezawadi, Arun Chodhury, Surekha Chaudhari, Vedanta Chaudhari and Abha Chaudhari attended. 

 

The meeting started with a poem by Achyut Adhikary.  The short poem entitled “I wish” depicted the poet’s yearning to know.  The poet said : “I wish to be a part of the Heart, of my friend who gave me her heart!”

 

Aruna Pandit read a poem on her family and friends.  Ramaiah Balachandra did not attend, but had sent a poem entitled “From up above.”  The poet talks about his journey high above the sky in an aircraft.  He said:

“From six miles up earth looks different,

A train crawling like a centipede,

Winding roads look like a child's scrawls

Neat crop circles on the farms.”

 

Praneetah Mukhatira read the classic poem “Ozymandias” of English romantic poet Shelley.  In a beautiful short space, the poet carved the impermanence of fame and wealth.  The poet said:

“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

The lone and level sands stretch far away".

 

Little Nishka Mukhatira followed her mother with a short poem talking about chasing a turkey.

 

Vijay Bezawadi writes in Telugu.  His poem had a sense of urgency about hypocrisy and vanity in society.  The first few lines were:

"Chaos and Confusion, this world abound, 

Writing only for sensation, and speech to incite

Promises and prostrating politicians, calamities are these elections

Vanity and narcissism rule society

Common man lives in poverty!"

 

Arun Chaudhari writes in Hindi.  He had an inspirational poem on occasion of Diwali.  The poem ends with a resonating call to rise up to the light. 

“May our life be filled with light (conscience) and celebration!  

May our actions promote affection and understanding!

Now is the time to arise, awake, shine, and share a ray of hope through selfless service.

We all are the embodiment of true knowledge-light and

Therefore possess an eternal capacity to illuminate. Friends,

Let us come together to illuminate our world with love, respect, and peace,

And to share a joy of celebration with others!”

 

Little poet Abha Chaudhari brightened up thinking of the Christmas lights.  In a poem entitled “My Perfect Christmas”, she concluded: “Remember to give others, And you will be happy too!”

 

Sajed Kamal could not attend, but had sent a poem entitled “Ashoka.” Signs of “No war” scribbled on a road divider on a Boston street reminded him of the edicts of Ashoka, who made the principle of “No war!”  The poet sang:

"Yet, the heart and the spirit of Asoka,

as they spoke through those edicts millenniums ago,

speak—through the inscription on the concrete road dividers—

through the heart and spirit of the inscriber—

through the heart and spirit of those touched by the words—

here and now!"

 

Chandu Shah read a poem from his popular book “Blue Jeans.”  The poet metaphorically painted the life of a washerman and his wife through the work they do in washing clothes.  The poem, written in Gujarati had beautiful diction and was an excellent presentation in wordplay.

 

Gujarati poet Pramod Thaker writes under the pen-name of Krishnaditya.  He read a beautiful short poem in Gujarati, the title translating as “I am no so rough..”  A sample of the poetics is in the stanza:

"How soft and white is the ocean-foam.

I am not so soft as that.

Near a gliding canoe in calm waters,

graceful waves rise and fall,

dancing to the tune of a child’s laughter,

so playful, so angelic.

I am not so soft as that."

 

Bijoy Misra writes in Oriya.  He read an Oriya poem on his latest experiment in meditation.  English translation of the title of his poem was “Knowledge through Meditation.”  Meditation distinguishes between the views of the eye and views perceived internally.  Intense meditation is silence and no views. The poem wandered through the meditative states to reach a state of bliss.