Page 44 - Gems II
P. 44

Life


                                                                                                     Basudev Mallik                                                                    Do you see the bird swimming
                                                                                                                                                                                       across the azure?
                                                                                           Basudev  Mallik,  widely  acclaimed  as  a  perfectionist  in                               Its euphoric freedom never ends
                                                                                           language,  hails  from  the  Temple  City  of  Bhubaneswar,                                 till the dome vanishes.
                                                                                           Odisha. Mallik has spent his entire career as a journalist,                                 Do you listen to the silvery song
                                                                                           mostly in the department of editing. He took interest in
                                                                                                                                                                                       of the care-free stream?
                                                                                           writing  poetry  since  his  school  days  in  both                                         Gurgling, it glides on into your heart
                                                                                           languages—Odia, his mother tongue as well as English that
                                                                                                                                                                                       till you feel never soused.
                                                                                           enchanted him as a foreign language. Mallik stands strongly
                                                                                                                                                                                       Have you ever watched the blossoms
                                                                                           against the misconception of poetry being beyond the ambit
                                                                                           of  editing,  the  plea  being  “it  is  'spontaneous  overflow  of                          rock and roll in gay abandon
                                                                                           emotions'”. Good poetry, edited or unedited, stands out in                                  to the tune of the breeze
                                                                                           form and quality. Mallik, to his credit, has written over five                               in utter ecstacy?
                                                                                           hundred poems, carving time out of his busy schedule, many                                  It's all a mirror….
                                                                                           of  which  have  been  published  in  various  magazines  and                               A mirror to your life
                                                                                           periodicals. Young at 69, he is currently engaged as a senior                               that never ceases to murmur
                                                                                           editor at the Odia Virtual Academy of the state government,                                 till it merges into the Ocean.
                                                                                           taking care of rare books, scriptures and films being uploaded
                                                                                           to the Academy website.
                                                                                                                                                                                       The Vulture


                                                                                                                                                                                       It swooped down on the earth
                                                                                                                                                                                       from beyond the bustling mountains
                                                                                                                                                                                       squeezing the entire globe
                                                                                                                                                                                       under its ominous wings,
                                                                                                                             I prefer to                                               stifling the flow of oxygen
                                                                                                                  instill confidence                                                   into the trembling trachea.

                                                                                                                            among my                                                   Nations call it pandemic
                                                                                                                                                                                       I call it a viral holocaust
                                                                                                                         friends than
                                                                                                                                                                                       artfully waged against
                                                                                                                  supporting them                                                      an unwary world,
                                                                                                                                                                                       leaving almost all
                                                                                                                                for ever
                                                                                                                                                                                       gasping in their confines,
                                                                                                                                                                                       snatching all their means,
                                                                                                                                                                                       and breaking backbones.
                                                                                                                              ...Author
                                                                                                                                                                                       If ever smokes do rise
                                                                                                                                                                                       on land, at sea or in the sky
                                                                                                                                                                                       it looks like to be
                                                                                                                                                                                       a fiesta of triumph
                                                                                                                                                                                       against the Mafioso.
                                                                                                                                                                                       @Basudev Mallik

                 42 | Dr. K.C. Sethi & Sunita Sethi                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            GEMS - II | 43
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