Society
An Interview
On May 21, 2013 at 9.30 pm (IST) Germany-based ShahFazli, a writer and artcritic, along with poet Shalini Samuel took an on-line interview of Dr. Kumarendra Mallick on his poeticjourney. Several poets and writers interacted with Kumarendra Mallick. Some like Mamta Agarwal, Sangeeta Talwar Suneja, Ramesh Anand and Ajay Gajaria were also present at the time of interview.
Here is an excerpt of the interview:
Shah Fazli: Welcome to our live interview, it's such a pleasure to have you with us today, I must admit you are a real gentleman, and it's an honour to have you here with us this evening, please introduce yourself to us before I ask you about poetry, what is your secret behind being such a likable and lovely person as you are, what do people say about you, just tell us the very simple and common things about yourself please, so we get to know you a little more?
Sujatha Gopal: Your earlier poems were mostly on themes like nature, people, daily incidents etc. But of-late you have been writing haiku, senryu. How has this transformation happened... experimentation with a different genre?
Shalini Samuel: Mallick Sir.. I have to thank you first.. you introduced me to poetry world through Muse India. Can you say about your experience at Your Space Forum
Ranju Mishra: A Romantic heart, which is ethereal, sensuous as well as spiritual, touches all hearts irrespective of age and sex, you are as sharp as your Haiku, Kumarendra sir! How do you do it?
Shah Fazli: Sorry, everyone, Kumarendra Mallick has got technical problems, he has lost the page completely now, it's an unfortunate thing for everybody, hope it's sorted out soon.
Kumarendra Mallick: Yes, Sujatha, I started writing poems on love, nature, life and common things. Later on I was introduced to haiku, senryu etc. on Muse India and gradually learned to write these. In this connection, I wish to thank Kala Ramesh and Gautam Nadkarni, and later on Ramesh Anand.
Shalini Samuel: You have encouraged lot of young poets in your poetic journey. Sir, can you name some young poets , whose poetry you love to read.
Kumarendra Mallick: Yes, Shalini, to know so many writers and poets was a great pleasure and a learning process, too. You are one among them. We had good poets like Pooja Bhuyar, Maria Zafar, Shigufta Henna Uzma, Amit Shankar Shah, Mohammad Zahid, Siddharth Borkakati, Preeta Chandran, Srilaxmi Adhyapa, Lasya Shasimohan. Jasneet Kaur, Mahvash Afzal, Surabhi Bhattacharya, Neha Rautela to name a few.
Swapnalata Mishra Rath: Sir, please continue J
Kumarendra Mallick: I write romantic poems, Swapnalata, but not sensuous ones.
Shah Fazli: Can you read a poem here for us please?
Sujatha Gopal: Mallikji, how did you get drawn towards literature, poetry in particular?
Ranju Mishra: Every event of Nature, big or small, touches your heart and inspires you to create beautiful poetry! I salute that sensitive and observant heart.
Kumarendra Mallick Shalini, see the poem:
Kumarendra Mallick: Thank you, Ranju. What comes out of heart goes to another heart easily, I believe.
Swatee Sripada: Imagery changes with time, did it play a vital role in your poetry, Mallick ji?
Kumarendra Mallick: Swatee, imageries are imaginations that we relate to the objects, may be romantic, philosophical or drawn from nature. It reflects one's sensibilities.
Swatee Sripada: Delicacy and softness of the poet reflect in his writings too. I experienced in many of your poems your soft attitude. Again toughness is the quality of the mind not the voice. Will you comment on this?
Kumarendra Mallick Swatee, words have great values, more valuable than gold, or diamond. When the words are soft and serene they connect us to higher values. Therefore love poems use soft and sweet words.
Swatee Sripada: Thank you, Mallick ji.
Balram Cheruparambil: Sir, there is strong thread of romance running through most of your poem., I would like to know more about your inspirations.
Kumarendra Mallick: Balram, man is a product of romance. We see romance, breathe romance, too. Even a small scene of two robins sitting together or two birds flying together inspire to write romantic poems. Of course, I was inspired by friends at time to time
Balram Cheruparambil: Thank you, Sir :)). It is a striking feature of your creation.
Kumarendra Mallick: I love humorous and political satires, too. Poems on animals like monkeys, squirrels and plants like petunia, tree etc. are exciting.
Shalini Samuel: Mallick sir, I remember one of your poems about a bird that sat on your hand. You had said that moment you felt divine presence... I loved that poem a lot. You are really great in portraying your daily life in poems.. It seems you are a keen observer.. Did u have this trait from your younger days or the trait came through life’s ups and downs?
Kumarendra Mallick: Shalini, about the bird that sat on my hand is very touching, for we are getting evaluated by a small divine thing to be harmless. That gives a thrill. In our younger days we had pigeons at home. They used to be very friendly.
Ranju Mishra: You have an eclectic choice of subjects in your poetry...how do you choose a topic?
Kumarendra Mallick: Ranju, if we look around for a minute we get a cross-section of the creation! We have plenty of options to choose topics. The other thing is we meet people more by coincidence than by choice that enriches our lives, and all of you give plenty of topics every day.
Ranju Mishra: Yes, realisation like this that we are being evaluated by a small bird about our sensitivity towards nature and its lives is what makes you and your poetry so special, Kumarendra sir!
Kumarendra Mallick: Ranju, we are interconnected to the nature, and 'not an island' as told by John Donne
Shalini Samuel: Thank you, Kumarendra Mallick sir for spending your quality time with us. Amidst technical problems you answered happily to enthusiastic questions from friends. Friends, if you have missed the interview you can still drop your questions here so Mallick sir will answer later. Thank you all for spending your time with Poet Kumarendra Mallick. Good night all. Take care.
Ranju Mishra: Goodnight Kumarendra sir, Shah Fazil sir and Shalini Samuel for this enlightening evening!
Swatee Sripada: Good night, mallick ji
Ranju Mishra Goodnight Kumarendra sir, Shah Fazil sir & Shalini Samuel for this enlightening evening!
Ranju Mishra Goodnight Kumarendra sir, Shah Fazil sir & Shalini Samuel for this enlightening evening!
Kumarendra Mallick: At the end I must thank Shanta Acharya to introduce me to Muse India, Shernaz Wadia to Boloji. At Boloji, Chief Editor, Rajender Krishan and Poetry Editor Aparna Chatterjee have given excellent support and encouragement. Sensitive readers like Rupradha Mookerjee, Madhavi Godavarty, Kulbir Bhalla, Kingshuk Chakravorty, Padmaja Iyengar and Hema Ravi have provided much needed inspiration to me. I got very strong support from GSP Rao, Managing Editor, Seshu Chamarty, former Associate Editor, and numerous friendly readers and critics of Muse India which has changed my poetic journey during the last six years. For the past one and half years I am posting my works on Face Book. The response on this site is overwhelmimg and I am deeply touched by the love and affection poured on me by the readers and critics from different parts of the world. I have composed more than 3000 poems during this period. I must thank my wife, Vijaya to give me good support. She has, in fact, chosen some of the poems for the first anthology of my poems, ‘Letter to an Imaginary Pen Friend and other Poems’.
23-May-2013
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Dr. Kumarendra Mallick
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Thank you, Kingshuk. Even one word can create a miracle in our lives. There is just one pole star to guide the sailors. Is it not? In the same way friends do help us to swim across the tide in our voyage. Thank you for your compliments. |
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Congratulations, Sir! I am pleasantly surprised to see you mentioning my name to have inspired you........it's only your greatness, which reflects in it. You are a great poet and come across as a wonderful human being. I respect you, love your creations and feel motivated by your words. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. |
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Rupa, you need not throw a hill into the water to create waves, a small stone does it equally. And you are that loely pebble to stir my heart. Thank you, dear friend. |
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Congratz KumarJI! I feel blissful to have inspired you..but you are yourself an amazing persona. So I respect you and am motivated by you! Thanks a lot! :-) |
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