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Bhubaneswar, August 26: Naba Kishore Pujari is a winning combination of social activist and poet. Saptaka Sahitya Sansada certainly believed so, considering that they have presented Naba Kishore with the ‘Saptaka Sahitya Samman-2016’. His poetry collections ‘Ja Nauri Ja’ and ‘Pritiriti’ won him the award.
‘Ja Nauri Ja’ is a collection of 40 Oriya poems which deal with a range of states and emotions that humans experience including sorrow, happiness, love and hatred. The 88-page book was published by Duradarshi. The other anthology, ‘Pritiriti’, contains 30 Oriya poems that deal with loneliness and love, besides presenting socially relevant messages. The 48-page book has been published by Eduledge.
Naba Kishore hails from Sahaj Bahal, a hamlet in Sonepur. He is a postgraduate in social work and has been working for a private firm since 2003. He pursued his love for poetry, seeded early in life, along with his work.
“I had started writing poems from the age of 6. After my poem ‘Malaya’ got published — that was the first — I started writing poems for many publications. I believe social work and writing are both useful and essential to sustain societies.”
The 30-year-old has written about 500 poems and more than 200 of them have been published by different magazines. His poetry collections are also available in bookshops.
Earlier, Naba Kishore had received the ‘Duradarshi Samman’ in recognition of his skills as a writer of features, stories and poems. He was also a champion debater and won an inter-university competition, organised by Education Fair in Bhubaneswar in 2007.
As a writer of children’s literature he is known for stories such as ‘Ghor Sokalora Saja Phula’, ‘Punarbasa’ and ‘Bhagaban Jaha Karanti Manusya Ra Mangala Pain’.
Naba Kishore counts his teacher from primary school Durbadala Mishra as a key influence on his development as a writer. “The way he read poems and wrote influenced me. I decided that I, too, will write the way he did,” he said.
For the past 13 years, Naba Kishore has also been working against social evils such as child marriage, child labour and to also ensure that children enjoyed their right to education. Further, he is associated with a programme to fight dowry harassment.
For his work as a social activist, Naba Kishore was honoured by Jana Kalyana Seva Sangha, Nimapada, in 2011.
He believes that his literary works support his work as a social activist. “I discovered that writing and social work are related. Social work brings hope to the underprivileged and supports them while books and poems encourage and provide them with inspiration. I am happy that my works have been helpful to others,” Naba Kishore said.
At present, he is working on a new collection ‘Garbhasthara Swapna’ (Dreams from a womb). “This book contains 50 Oriya poems and most of these articulate the social changes taking place around us. The title derives from a poem based on a female foetus whose life hangs in the balance as its parents do not want to beget another girl child. The poem is the cry of the foetus for life from its mother’s womb giving assurances that she would prove good if she were given a chance. This unborn child calls for an end to female foeticide,” Naba Kishore said.
