Unveiling the steps: Some Twenty Miles Away
Upcoming poetry anthology
“Some Twenty Miles Away” is the upcoming English anthology of poems by Binay Laha — a contemporary voice of Indian English Poetry, hailing from Raiganj (a small town in North Dinajpur District of West Bengal).
Mr. Binay Laha, presently pursuing his PhD from Raiganj University, is well versed in both Bengali and English.
He is the editor of “Indology Magazine”, the oldest existing printed English literary magazine of West Bengal.
According to him, ” Poetry is everything to me” and so, along with his academic works and teaching profession, he has offered his soul to uphold the voice of the margins, and has started a new literary movement with the motto of “Act Local, Think Global” since 2017.”
Here, in this interview, he has talked about his upcoming book “Some Twenty Miles Away”, an anthology of poems, published by Authorspress, with Arpan Basu on behalf of ‘Himalaya Diary’, Published from Nepal.
Arpan: Binay Da(Elder Brother), if I am not wrong, you already have three books of poetry and prose, and the book “Some twenty miles away” is your fourth anthology of poetry, right? Before this title, some of your works, especially from the poems of your debut book “The Auction of My Soul” got a warm response and love from the readers as well as from the critics for their spontaneous & vivid narrative. And so, as a poet what is your expectation from this upcoming book of poetry? Are you feeling excited?
Binay: Yes, Arpan! This is my fourth book of English poetry. My first book was “The Auction of My Soul”, the second one was “Bad Boy Good Girl”, the third was “The Wife of Red Soil” and my fourth and upcoming English poetry book is “Some twenty miles away”.
Apart from this, there is another Bengali book of poetry in my Bag named, “Hemanter Nayak” which was brought out by a reputed publisher of Kolkata in 2022.
I am fortunate enough as a poet and writer because, till now every book of mine has got a lovable response from my readers and I am also happy & blessed for their positive feedback. This time my expectation is higher than before because this anthology is going to be a harvest of the long poetic endeavour of the last two years where I have tried to voice out something different that has never been told in my writings.
I am also very excited because, this book will be released at Indology Literary Meet, 2023, in the honourable presence of Prasanna Behera, a notable poet of Bhubaneswar in the state of Orissa and of Dr Bhaskar Roy Barman, an eminent Tripura-based-writer who has penned down a wonderful foreword, too, for this book.
“Some Twenty Miles Away” Will carry the readers to my nostalgia, love, rejection, separation, connectivity with the rest of the world and have fun, the mystery of living and above all my philosophy in a very simple & lucid language.
Arpan: As a poet, along with the academic works, how do you deal with poetry? Please tell me something about your approach to poetry.
Binay: See… First of all, I am a poet; then I am a scholar. Poetry is very close to my heart. Poetry is my life. I have been composing poems since 2000… But, at the same time, I love doing academic work. If poetry is considered to be my complete freedom, then I shall add that academic works are my restricted freedom. In the eyes of the people, academic works have much respect on the grounds of intellectuality. Poetry, however, is everlasting according to me. In a narrow sense of the term, I am older as a poet and younger as an academician. In poetry, I am objective, whereas in academics, I am engrossed as a subjective. You can find me within poetry, and in academics, you can get some dogmas and discipline which may not be a song of my heart.
Arpan: In your poems, off and on, I have encountered the theme of love, hope, life, mockery, separation & most importantly a plurality of sweet-bitter emotion. How do your poems relate to the life paths you have taken or to you as a person?
Binay: Sometimes poetry leads to my life, sometimes my life leads to poetry. It’s a vice-versa journey. Both have become synonymous. You have rightly discovered the subject matters of my poems. Indeed, it is a fact that life cannot run on a single track. It has its varieties. Life always gives us sweet-bitter emotions.
Arpan: “A poet plays an important role in our society.” – do you believe that? I am asking this because, in your earlier writings, I had delved into a deep political resonance focusing on contemporary issues. If you believe it, then please make it clear and tell me, how you play this role through your poems.
Binay: A poet plays always a pivotal role in our society. However, they are neglected. For instance, Jibanananda Das, the great poet of Bengal, was extremely neglected & marginal in his lifetime, but later he received due respect posthumously worldwide, changing the mindset and the thinking process of the people. In the context of politics, I must vouch that, politics is a part of life that many of us try to shun consciously. But, I don’t deny politics. Politics have chained the globe and my poetry is related to the world I am confronting every single day.
Arpan: More than twenty years of engagement with poetry what do you think of the real nature and function of poetry?
Binay: Poetry in my boyhood period, and now in my elder youthful stages are different. In my early 2000s, my words were sticky and immature. But over time, it has gradually changed. Nowadays I am an entrepreneur of words being invested in the long-term benefits of the future. Words and phrases like, “undergraduate smile ” have been a common exuberance in the book “Some twenty miles away “. I believe it will change again & again with time. I will gain more maturity. Nothing can be called the real nature of poetry. However, poetry should be more engaged for the benefit of society.
Arpan: What is your artistic process to build up a poetry shaping an idea? Is there any special theme that particularly attracts you as a writer? Or, is there anything you would never write about?
Binay Laha: Art is a spontaneous process that comes to me in the form of poetry naturally… Most of the time I write poems as a symbol of resistance, as a weapon through which I try to depict the problems of society, the society where I live… It may be my own country or maybe the entire world. The problems of the world are also my problem. Because a poet is a seer who belongs to the no-man-land. Therefore, as a poet, the motto of my journal Indology also carries the note, “Act local think global.” I always love to find the common human link of the people of the world, even though the scope is limited. I enjoy tracing out the different parts of the world keeping an aim to enrich my poems. Years ago, when I went to Bhutan as an invitee to join a literal conclave organized by Kejang Dawa —a renowned poet as well as my friend — I took the opportunity to recite some of my poems instead of delivering an intensive speech on the growth and expansion of English poetry in Bhutan and the contemporary non-English speaking countries. I don’t have a particular penchant to write on a particular theme, at the same I don’t have any allergy to any theme. But I love to write realistic ones…
Arpan: In your poems, I have noticed that even if they are crafted in English, they remain deeply Bengali bearing a note of bilingual sensibility spontaneously. Please tell me the reason behind such a way of narrative.
Binay: This is a very interesting observation, Arpan. Look, I was born in a village that is nearly 17 kilometres away from Durgapur in the undivided district of Bardhaman in West Bengal. I grew up in an environment where Bengali language was the only way of communication. I still remember that when I was in class five, for the first time I read English books. Reading English literature was a distant end. I had a great inclination and hunger since childhood towards English. But, frankly speaking, I am comfortable in both English & Bengali parallelly. In my personal view, language should be as free as the flow of a hilly river. And so, in my English, the shadow of Bengali reflection comes naturally.
Arpan: Finally, do you have any message for your readers? If you have, please feel free to share…
Binay: I wish to give the message of love to my dear readers. They are my hope. I believe you will enjoy reading “Some Twenty Miles Away”, but will not spare a detachment going far away from me. Ha Ha. Don’t forget to send your blessings and feedback. Good Bye! And thanks for your brilliance in discovering myself differently in the reader’s world. Special thanks to Himalaya Diary and her editor-in-chief and the associate editor for giving us a broader scope in your esteemed portal.
(The interviewer is a Howrah-based poet, artist and cyclist)
Photo: Poet Binay Laha
Photo: Arpan, the interviewer