GUWAHATI: “Poetry is the mother tongue of humanity. Any day could be considered a poetry day”, said renowned poet Anubhav Tulasi as he was speaking at the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya on the occasion of World Poetry Day on Saturday. The event was organised by the Department of English, USTM. A self composed recitation competition was also held among the students, which was judged by the Chief Guest Anubhav Tulasi and Prof. Garima Kalita, Head of the Department, according to a USTM communique.
Addressing the gathering of literary enthusiasts, Anubhav Tulasi said that he believes in humanity and work, tries to collect the inner mind, complex relationship with nature, and things that cannot be perceived, through his expression in poetry. He generalised this idea as being relevant to all the poets. His belief rested on the fact that poetry had existed since the inception of humankind and would continue to persist till the existence of the humanity. He further expressed his views stating that everybody’s writing irrespective of belonging to different centuries were same in time, language, ideas, thoughts, sheet of paper, which all combined together to form one poetry, “I write what others write”.
Mr Tulasi’s speech was followed by recitation poems by him and by some of the faculty members. A student through her welcome speech illustrated the significance of the day, including an important fact of how UNESCO had declared 21st March as the ‘World Poetry Day’. A group of students presented a chorus on the renowned poetry “My Love is like a Red Red Rose”, by Robert Burns. Further, the Vice Chancellor of USTM P.K. Goswami shared his thoughts on poetry.
Prof. Garima Kalita, HOD of the Department of English reflected her thoughts about poetry having a language of its own. She claimed that poetry opens a magical door to the readers that marvels the heart and mind of the person. She specifically considered spontaneity as one of the chief characteristics of poetry. She emphasized about one of the renowned poet Nilomoni Phukan’s words on poetry.
The recitation competition was followed by a very fruitful interaction with the students. The first, second and third prize went to Nur Afruz Ahmed, Tabassum Tasdique and Rheeturaj B.Choudhury, respectively. Deigratia Khaabyngar was given a consolation prize. The event ended with a note of creating harmony among the variegated culture of North East India with the display of a fusion dance performance.