‘Sur O Sataru' is the second poetical work by Mostafa Mahathir. It was published in April, 2019 by Porilekh Publication. Mostafa Mahathir is a poet, short story writer and a novelist. He is also the co-editor of a renowned teenage magazine. In his writing, versatile elements like feelings, emotions, thought, love and the reality of human lives are shown. 'Sur O Sataru' is not different than these. Rather it will be remarkable for several qualities. Because, he made a revolution against the contemporary poetic style.
There are 46 poems in this book. We find lyrics, ballads, sonnets, rubaiyats and other genres. Every poem tastes different. He wrote several narrative style poems. He knitly narrated his conceptions. He used numerous natural elements in his poems. These elements seem to be vividly realistic. Because, these are the portrayal of our daily life.
In the first poem of the book named 'Amake Je Bhalobashe,' he mentioned the Chengi River, a river which is located in Chittagong. He wrote, 'Chengi and Karnafuli rivers love me.' In his another poem named 'Ekti Nodi Cholche Boye,' he again depicted the 'Chengi' river. He showed imagery there. These imageries depict us the life and the culture of the people as well as the natural sceneries.
His narrative style poems are different in taste. There he poetically narrated his thought. In a poem named 'Chirotore Nil Hobo Ekdin,' he showed the dream of a young poet. That poet wants to write an eternal poem which will become ageless for the eternal time. There he wrote, 'Poets are not born for hanging certificates on their neck. Keats, Nazrul and Sukanto were not.' The name poem of the book is 'Sur O Sataru.' In this poem, he stated a love story which will touch everyone's heart. It may have some allegorical significance too. His narratives poems are not only pleasurable but also poetic with full of literary devices.
He wrote several sonnets in this book. It is known that Michael Madhusudan Dutt first brought the sonnet to the Bengali literature and wrote in the Bengali Okkhorbritto Chondo, a Bengali poetic meter which is written by counting the letters. Mostafa Mahathir's sonnets are the mixtures of the Italian sonneteer Petrarch and the Bengali Madhusudan. We know that Petrarchan sonnets are written in 14 lines and it is developed in two parts called 'Octave' and 'Sestet.' Octave means the first eight lines and the Sestet means the last 6 lines. Hence, poet's rhyme schemes are little different than the Petrarch. Petrarch used ABBAABBA in the Octave part and CDDCDD/ CDDECE or CDDCCD in the Sestet part. But poet Mostafa Mahathir used ABABCDCD in the octave part and EFEFGG in the sestet part. It gives his sonnets individuality and makes unique in style.
We find a poetic drama in this book. In his poetic drama named 'Dirgho Adharer Raat' (The Long Night of the Darkness), he depicted the sorrows and the sufferings of the Rohingya families living in the Arakan. We see the genocide and the oppressions of the Myanmar armies as well as the migration of the Rohingya families across the Naf River. The poet also wrote few rubaiyats. These are full with deep and philosophical thoughts.
Mostafa Mahathir skillfully dealt with all the poems in his 'Sur O Sataru'. His thinking and the arts he used in his writing fascinated me. His imageries, similes, metaphors and other literary devices are enough to increase the interest of the readers. The simplicity of his language and the delicate word selections will please every reader's heart.
The reviewer is a poet, writer and literary critic
