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Dwelling on Bala’s Offbeat Words

Harashit Bala

Published : Saturday, 1 January, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 754

Discovering a poet's strength anew�.
Dwelling on Bala’s Offbeat Words

Dwelling on Bala’s Offbeat Words

A couple of years back, Harashit Bala, a poet of the 1970s, came up with his autobiographical book, Jibon Jakhon Jebhabe that earned appreciation from home and abroad. I came across the book and encountered a different style of autobiography-writing.
Bearing such a good experience in mind, I have lately gone through one of his recent publications titled Balar Beshamal Shabdotarangey' (Dwelling on Bala's Offbeat Words), a collection of short poems. But, most importantly, I discovered the poet anew through the book mentioned above. In a word, Harashit Bala has displayed his unknown strength in this book.
In general, most poets struggle to deliver what they want in short poetry. Only a few poets succeed in projecting thoughts tactfully in the case of composing short poems. Among the few ones, Harashit Bala brilliantly captures the expressions and impressions of human life through his short verses. One does not need any extra effort to understand his poems. Such simplicity made his verses extremely readable. Let me translate some lines from some of his poems:
 I did not make you cry
 You cried, and
 So did I.
Again, the poet says:
My love, tell me
how soul survives without love
One does not need to explain what he says through his compositions. Instead, one has to feel and internalize his verses. His poems capture all the possible expressions of love. These go through all the bittersweet ways of life. The following lines bear the footprint of what I already said:
I never thought
You will leave the way you came
If you knew
how one's heart gets broken because of the other
Harashit Bala follows what Archibald MacLeish says, "A poem should not mean, but be" in composing his poems. The following lines bear the proof of it:
The door always remains open
awaiting your return
If you decide to come back some other day!
How long does a girl talk to a boy?
How many talks do they have in their minds?
Why does a boy stare at a girl for so long?
The way the poet expresses the happiness and bitterness of human life is superb. He invites readers to his world of poetry through his catchy expressions. The following verses can be the suitable example of what I have said:
You made a heart emptied
What a danger you possess!
Let me focus on the diction of his poetry. His words carry the depth of his thoughts and philosophical bent of mind. The conscious and spontaneous use of words in the poetry added a dimension.
I have mentioned in my title that I have discovered a new poetic strength in Harashit Bala while reading the short poems of the anthology. He has created a permanent niche in Bangladeshi literature through his new endeavour. He has painted a canvas where many of us will find our life stories.
I must thank the publisher of Shamabesh, Mr Prithwish Prottoy, for publishing such a time-tailored book. Furthermore, he has done a splendid job by accommodating sketches suitable to the poems. No doubt, the book would get a large readership.

The reviewer teaches English at Central Women's University, Dhaka















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