Bangla Char Akshar by Sunil Gangopadhyay [Hardcover]

In the air, there’s the flutter of unfulfilled love, misunderstandings, supernatural eagerness, and the dissatisfaction of never meeting face to face... This dissatisfaction may be what drives poet Sunil Gangopadhyay to write poetry. And we become engrossed in conversing with his new creations. We are enriched. The four letters of Bengali, arranged in disorder, bring to life the essence of any poem. Even if it is an expression of hatred, we understand that through the cracks of hatred, the clear presence of those four letters can be seen. It is this word that makes life so beautiful. It is this word that prompts the poet to write, “...if you had refused the trial by fire the first time, Sita? / Then perhaps people, people, people, blind people’s power / would never have allowed Ram to return...”. The poet writes, and a revolution occurs at the center of his pen. This revolution is of beauty, which is present throughout Sunil Gangopadhyay's poetry. The poems in this book are crafted in many beautiful forms, through failed loves, countless unspoken inquiries, and sorrowful deep sighs. Here lies the inescapable utterance of life: “...or is all this my own despair? / Are there other people somewhere who will change all this?...”. The poems in this collection explore the fragmentation and construction of this belief and love.