Friday, October 29, 2010

Poet By Heart: Bureaucrat Bishnupada Sethi’s World of Words

MEET this bureaucrat by mind but poet by heart. For Bishnupada Sethi, a 1995 batch Orissa cadre IAS and director, Census Operation of Orissa, life is a bigger canvas and poetry is his art. Bishnupada Sethi is a confirmed poet with two poetry books already in his kitty.
His latest book, My World of Words is a collection of poems with an underlining theme that words are central to human existence. After all, human experience, intelligence, belief etc. are linked to the world of words.
Sample this:
Lying quietly on a wooden cot,
kept on the verandah of a mud hut,
I move my eyes slowly
like the rare waves
in the cool waters of a static lake.
You may wonder about me-
Relating to people like you,
while knowing that I do not have any name,
like other old members of the tribe
as naming was never our old tradition.
This is Sethi’s one of many poems called “An Unknown Tribal” where he narrates what life means for a simple tribal villager. For the record, there has been a massive debate in Orissa about tribal rights vis-à-vis commercial utilization of its vast resources.
Sethi’s first book named, “Where Shall I Go” was published in 2005. The book became so popular that its Urdu version was published later in 2009, and its Oriya version in under print.
Amarendra Khatua, a 1981 batch IFS officer, is yet another bureaucrat-cum-poet. His Ek Kavi Ka Khamosh Ho Jana received accolades in the poetry circle.
Also Read

Action and Appointments
a) Anil Kumar, a 1976 batch Nagaland cadre IAS, presently Principal Adviser, Planning Commission has been appointed as secretary, department of AYUSH, under the ministry of health and family welfare in place of Ms S Jalaja, a 1974 batch Bihar cadre IAS who is retiring on October 31, 2010.

1 comment:

  1. The present transfer and posting policy on Indian Railways has resulted in surplus at SAG level in various zones,across various departments.Like listless spirits,these "surplus ghosts" roam the corridoors of Rail Bhavan, in search of redemption through deputation or other means of salvation, which is well nigh impossible,given the present environment in the Rail Ministry. Perhaps a few creative SAG officers too can turn poets and writers,in order to keep the homefires burning and in order to retain sanity, with bureaucratic insanity all around.A few Baul singers, to start with may be a revolutionary beginning.Babublogger can actively think of a serial on such surplus vanaprasthis

    ReplyDelete