He is a scientist by profession and a poet by passion. For Professor Ashutosh Parida, writing poetry is a way of life, of expressing his emotions. Social issues like poverty, bonded labour, displacement and caste and gender discrimination have prompted Ashutosh to write a number of poems, often raising questions on the disparities existing in society. And his efforts have not gone unrecognised. He has won several awards including the coveted Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award. Ashutosh spoke to Sunday POST on his journey as a poet.
A native of Silipur village in Kendrapada district, Ashutosh took to writing at an early age. His first poem was published in his school magazine when he was in Class IX. “It was a very simple poem and didn’t carry much weight. But it was still appreciated by my teachers,” says Ashutosh. However, the small token of appreciation motivated him to continue writing. As a poet, he grew when he reached college. Professors started appreciating his works and motivated him to write more.
“Two of my teachers, Krushnacharan Behera and Sudhanshu Sekhar Ray, continuously inspired me and were a driving force. I started writing more poems which would often be published in my college magazine,” he says. Ashutosh was a brilliant student and he decided to enrol in NIT, Rourkela. The environment there was completely different, and he had to spend hours studying. Naturally, poetry took a backseat for some time.
However, the poet in him surfaced again after he returned to Bhubaneswar, where he joined the Regional Research Laboratory (RRL), later rechristened as IMMT. In Bhubaneswar, poetry took centre stage and Ashutosh’s first book, Jukta Jatana, co-authored by Duryodhan Das, was published. That was in 1972.
“Most of the poems were themed on love and relationships. A few were elegies. A well-wisher advised me to move away from this and focus on more serious issues. But poetry once again took a backseat as I had to move to Kharagpur to complete my PhD. However, I didn’t detach myself from literature. I kept reading novels and poems of eminent writers,” says Ashutosh.
After completing his PhD, Ashutosh once again took to writing but by now he had changed as a poet. He started writing on some of the serious issues plaguing society. Naturally, with age, his writing was more mature, and he started getting noticed. Ashutosh says that he has always tried to draw similarities between science and poetry but on most occasions has failed. “In the end, I realised that writing poetry is a complex procedure and one has to tell something new every time, while science is equipped with formulas and methodologies to discover new things,” he says.
In 1987, Ashutosh released Ipsita Krodha (The Desired Anger). The poems centred on problems faced by the masses and how this gave birth to anger and revolt. His works earned recognition, thus inspiring him to write more on social issues. “Anger is like an iron rod and needs to be melted delicately,” he says.
Although life for Ashutosh was getting busier every day as a scientist, this time he didn’t take a break from writing. In 1990, he was conferred the prestigious Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award. The award gave his career a big boost and Ashutosh followed it up with the book Chandala in 1991. “It was an attempt to look at the situation of a Dalit from a Marxist point of view and was well appreciated,” he says. Four years later, Sabdavedi (Piercing the Sound), yet another collection of poems that revolved around social issues, was released.
After that, there was no stopping Ashutosh, with publishers queuing up in front of his house. At the turn of the millennium, he came up with yet another poignant collection of poems titled Raktabarna Bali that talks about a man’s relationship with his country. Ashutosh’s workflow has only increased since then. His next few books, Angara Gara (2003), Lahu Luhana (2007), Antarala (2008), Desa Nathiba Loka (2010), Akranta Akshyara (2014) and Katha Sarinahin (2017), all drew immense appreciation and flew off the shelves.
However, Ashutosh says that he has often been criticised for his works. “When Desa Nathiba Loka released, many authors asked me how it is possible that a man doesn’t belong to a country. I said that I tried to visualise a country through the eyes of a common man. A man who has everything feels proud of his country, but there are many who wake up every morning and don’t know if they can arrange two square meals a day. For them, no country exists,” he explains.
Ashutosh, who also has a collection of essays Kalatmaka Bastabata, Bhitti O Angikar to his credit, says that it has always been difficult for him to answer ‘why’ and ‘what’ because poetry follows a different rhythm. “Apart from the poet’s creativity, there are ideological factors which come into play when he writes a poem. Moreover, it depends on the socio-political state when he is writing,” he says, adding, “It may so happen that a majority of poets will write, consciously or unconsciously, under the influence of the prevailing social ideology. But there will also be poets who will go against that because they have their own ideology. Thus, it isn’t surprising that in a society where contradictions exist, there will always be voices of dissent in poetry.”
The poet, however, isn’t averse to criticism and says that positive criticism inspires him to write better poems. Looking at modernism in poetry, the author says, “Modernism has its own internal contradictions. It was a Western concept and doesn’t have roots in Indian soil. For its aesthetic base, it relied on extreme individualism, alienation and obscurantism. It expressed images of death, destruction, loneliness and romanticised sadness. This sort of poetry didn’t connect itself with society and history. It kept itself away from the collective aspirations of the people and became unintelligible to the readers. However, modernist poetry found its way to academic institutions. Literary critics laboured hard to interpret this poetry. There were also efforts by modernist poets to be communicative by incorporating various local imageries and myths in their poetry. Modernism continued in different forms for several years, encouraged by conditions provided by growing capitalism and urbanisation,” he says.
Ashutosh feels that Odia poetry is fast gaining popularity, but a lot still needs to be done. “Contemporary Odia poetry has a great future. It is transcending all types of conservatism and obscurantism and trying to cope with the reality of changing times. A lot of young poets are doing really good work and I am optimistic about the future,” he says.
Awards galore
Ashutosh has been conferred with several prestigious awards in his 40-year-long career.
1988- Gokarnika Samman by Gokarnika Sahitya Samaj, Dharmasala
1990- Odisha Sahitya Akademi Puraskar for the book Ipsita Krodha
2003- Bhanuji Rao Smaraki Puraskar
2011- Sachidananda Routray Kabita Samman by Sheshore Sahitya Academy
2017- Gangadhara Mehera Kabita Samman by Utkal Sahitya Samaja
BRATATI BARAL, OP