Jayanta Mahapatra: A search for self

A doyen of Indian English poetry, a religiously celebrated poet, an ardent worshipper of the motherland, a stooping man who dare return his Padmashree Award for moral asymmetry in the country- Jayanta Mahapatra, an insight into his self introspecting life.

Jayanta Mahapatra - a doyen of Indian English Poetry Image Source : The Samiksha

With the advent of globalisation, postcolonialism and post modernisation, Modern English Poetry had bloomed magnificently, adding indigenous traditions of Indian English Poetry. However, Post-Independence Indian English Poets faced anonymity. Along with A.K Ramanujan and R.Parthasarathy, Jayanta Mahapatra bought a radical shift in the writing- a shift from the macrocosm of the country to the microcosm of the self.

Born to Lemuel Mohapatra and Sudhanshubala Dash, a prominent Odia Christian family, on 22 October 1928, Jayanta Mahapatra went on to become the first-ever poet to be awarded Sahitya Academi in the field of English Poetry. He did his schooling at Stewart School, Cuttack, Odisha and completed his masters in physics from Patna University, Bihar. In 1949 he initiated his teaching career as a lecturer in physics and served in several colleges of Odisha. It is in his sixties, we see the advent of his writing career when some of his poems got published in international literal journals. He received myriad rejections until he was called on to participate in the International Writing Program at Lowa, bringing him little recognition.

Jayanta Mahapatra is recognised as the doyen among the second generation of modern poets. With the emergence of “Close the sky", “Ten by Ten", Swayamvara and other poems his career got on the right track. Some of his most-read volumes include “A Rain of Rites", “A Father's House", “Waiting", “The False Start", “Relationship" and “Life Signs".

Various of his poems have been published in foreign journals bringing him the Jacob Glashen Memorial Award, Chicago in 1975 and Poetry Award of International Who's Who in 1980 which multiplied his fame as a writer.

Although Christian by birth, his creative self is primarily Hindu in terms of myth, symbols, folklore, idioms and psyche. He learned to respect Christ but his inner self is ardently Hindu. This dual identity had created a sense of insecurity and alienation in his poetry. Despite this, he draws prolific and detailed portraits of the physical, historical and political India in his poetry. His themes muse around questioning self, search for roots and identity, religion, culture, rituals, spirituality, symbols and the lost heritage.

He considers Odisha as the hub of his iconoclastic perambulations, and his indebtedness for the land is apparent. The Odia landscape acts as the objective setting bringing about the mental evolution of the poet. Images of temples, stones, ruins, absence, solitude, rain, seasons are invoked repeatedly in his poems, developing into a rich leitmotif of his poetic oeuvre.

In his poem, “Hunger" with beautiful imageries, he depicts the sexual hunger of a rich man and the hunger for food of a poor fisherman, which compels him to bring this rich man to his home to have sex with his 15 years old young daughter.

In the poem “Of a Questionable Conviction", he puts out rhetorical questions on the inner self of a poet and their laments as if the pain belongs to them alone.

Jayanta is a realist.“Relationship", his Sahitya Akademi winning masterpiece, illustrates his quest for his roots, remembering the heroic past of Odisha. With great acclamation, he recalls the prowess of his ancestors who fought the Kalinga War in 261 B.C that transformed Ashoka into a religious man.

“Grandfather" is a poem where he finds out the answers to his long dwelling question about his grandfather's conversion from Hindu to Christian. In 2006, he was respected with Honorary Degree Doctor of Literature, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. Later in 2009, he was conferred with prestigious Padmashree for his superlative contribution to the field of Indian English Literature. However in 2015, so as to protest against the moral asymmetry in the country, he returned his prestigious award.

Recently, suffering from age-related ailments and diabetics when he got Covid-19, it was challenging for him. However, he has recovered from it now.