Inveighing Against Inequity: Re-Reading Niranjan Mohanty’s Poetry of Protest

Exploring the Voice of Protest in Niranjan Mohanty's Poetry

by Sujata Bose*,

- Published in Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540

Volume 15, Issue No. 6, Aug 2018, Pages 117 - 121 (5)

Published by: Ignited Minds Journals


ABSTRACT

Thomas Paine in the Rights of Man and Common Sense points out that every individual’s duty is “to allow the same rights to others as we allow ourselves” and the failure to do so gives birth to social injustice. The Indian freedom fighters cherished the dream of a free India where equality and justice would reign supreme. India achieved freedom, but the dream of social equality and justice for all, still remains unrealized, be it women in particular or the common masses or nature. There is continuous exploitation every now and then. Niranjan Mohanty, the Orissan poet inveighs against such inequity prevalent in the society. This paper seeks to bring out and analyse the voice of protest in Mohanty’s poems like Prayers to Lord Jagannatha, “Near the Temple”, “Kalahandi”, “The World”, “Taming”, “Bhubaneswar” etc. “Whatever is my right as a man is also the right of another and it becomes my duty to guarantee as well as to possess.” ----Thomas Paine

KEYWORD

inequity, Niranjan Mohanty, poetry of protest, social justice, exploitation, women's rights, equality, Indian freedom fighters, voice of protest, Orissan poet

Arora, Sudhir K. (2011). Niranjan Mohanty: The Man and His Poetry. Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 2011. Print. Ashcroft, Bill (2013). Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin eds. Postcolonial Key Concepts. 3rd Edition. London and New York: Routledge, 2013. Print. Bazell, Robert J. (1982). ―Urban Health and Environment.‖ Humanscape: Environments for People. Eds. Kaplan, Stephen and Rachel Kaplan. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ulrich‘s Books, 1982. 10-13. Print. Bradatan, Costica and Craiutu, Aurelian (2012). ―Introduction: The Paradoxes of Marginality.‖ The European Legacy.17.6. Oct 2012: 721-729, doi.org/10.1080/10848770.2012.715804 Cixous, Helene (1976). ―The Laugh of the Medusa‖. Cohen, Keith and Paula Cohen. (trans.) Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.Vol. 1, No. 4.The University of Chicago Press, 1976. pp. 875-893. Das, Kamala (1965). Summer in Calcutta. New Delhi: Everest Press, 1965. Glotfelty, Cheryll and Harold Fromm ed. (1996). The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1996. Print.

Humanscape: Environments for People. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ulrich‘s Books, 1982. 10-13. Print. Mahapatra, Jayanta (1997). Shadow Space. Kottayam: D.C. Books, 1997. Print Mishra, Binod and Sudhir K. Arora eds. (2010). Festivals of Fire: A study of the Poetry of Niranjan Mohanty. New Delhi: Adhyayan, 2010. Print Mohanty, Niranjan (1988). Oh This Bloody Game! (abbr. to OTBG) Berhampore: Poetry Publication, 1988. Print. -------. Prayers to Lord Jagannatha. NewDelhi: Indus(HarperCollins), 1994. Print. .-------. On Touching You and Other Poems. (abbr. to OTYOP) Kolkata: Cambridge, 1999. Print. .-------. Life Lines. (abbr. to LL) Kolkata: Cambridge, 1999. Print. .-------.A House of Rains. (abbr. to HR) Kolkata: Cambridge, 2008. Print. Sahu, Nandini (2010). ―Words and Silences in the Poetry of Niranjan Mohanty.‖ Festivals of Fire: A Study of the Poetry of Niranjan Mohanty. Eds. Binod Mishra and Sudhir K. Arora. New Delhi: Adhyayan, 2010. pp. 228-249. Print.

Sarangi, Jaydeep ed. (2010). A Great Orissan Pilgrim: A Study of Niranjan Mohanty‟s Works. New Delhi: Adhyayan, 2010. Print.

Singh, Rajni and Uttam Kumar (2010). ―Orissan Culture and Landscape in the Poetry of Niranjan Mohanty.‖ Festivals of Fire: A Study of the Poetry of Niranjan Mohanty.” Eds. Binod Mishra and Sudhir K. Arora. New Delhi: Adhyayan, 2010. 66-78. Print. Stonequist, Everett V. (1961). The Marginal Man: A Study in Personality and Cultural Conflict. New York: Russell and Russell, 1961. 8. Print. Waugh, Patricia ed. (2010). Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.

Corresponding Author Sujata Bose*

of Gour Banga

E-Mail – sujata.eric@gmail.com