Khairah presents two Punjabi poems at Bengaluru festival

Advertisement

Amritsar, September 3

City-based poet and educator Gurpratap Khairah was invited to be a part of the panellists for a two-day Bengaluru poetry festival, which attracts eminent literary names every year.

Curated by author Shinie Antony, the festival featured eminent names, including Manipuri activist and writer Erom Chanu Sharmila, Kannada poet Mamta Saagar and 70 prominent names in Indian literature. The festival was organised after a gap of two years and Khairah presented two of his poems at the event, much to the appreciation of the audience present.

“It was my first outing as a panelist at the prestigious event and I was overwhelmed by the response received. I participated in two different sessions, one on regional language poetry with Sharmila and Saagar, who presented their poems in respective regional languages. This year focused around celebrating poems from different regional languages rather than sticking to a particular theme,” said Gurpratap.

Working as an associate professor in the English department of Hindu College and member of the Majha House, a literary forum, Gurpratap is an avid admirer of word maestro Gulzar. He also paid tribute to his idol in his own way at the festival.

Presenting his poems in Punjabi, the first one was a Sufi ode to the relationship between human being and Almighty. “I did not give it any particular title as it was about him and me, how the concept of spirituality, whether physical or otherwise, remains constant for each individual. The other poem that I presented was ‘Main Kaun Haan’. I wrote it two years back and the first time I performed, Shinie was among the audience. She liked it and wanted me to be part of the Bengaluru poetry festival,” shared Gurpratap. ‘Main Kaun Haan’ was a critique on the sleeping conscience that has been responsible for some of the most horrific human life catastrophes across the world.

“Whether it was Aurangzeb ordering the slaughter of Guru Tej Bahadur and warriors or General Dyer murdering innocents, the Godhra carnage or World Trade Centre event, the poem binds these human tragedies into a question – asking the listener on recognising the one responsible, the collective sleeping conscience,” explained Gurpratap.

High on the response he received at the festival, he is set to launch a poetry book in October.