BHUBANESWAR: Poetry is a medium that traverses both living and the dead. The anthology, ‘Poems Across Time: One Family, Three Voices’ is a physical testament to this statement.
Released at the 14th Odisha Literary Festival on Sunday, it is a collection that brings together three distinct voices from one family, retired IAS officer, poet and cartoonist Bibhu Prasad Acharya, his son, poet and product manager, Airbnb, USA Ansuman Acharya and his late brother, Devi Prasad Acharya.
The book was born after Devi’s long lost collection of poems was recovered. As per Bibhu, it was his wife who discovered his late brother’s notebook in which he had written 30 poems. “However, 30 poems were not enough for a standalone publication. So, the publisher suggested that we will have to add more. That’s how the concept of one family, three voices came in,” he said.
Ansuman said his own poetry developed independently from his father’s and uncle’s work. When asked about how he viewed his poetry alongside theirs, he said it was influenced, but not directly. “My poems are mostly inspired by the writers and musicians I follow and the movies and art I consume,” he said.
The father-son duo offered the audience a glimpse of their written work, with Bibhu sharing two poems ‘Poet in a Battlefield’ and ‘For My Son’. Ansuman, meanwhile, read his poem ‘A Better Self’ which he said was inspired by an unexpected encounter with an Uber driver who eventually became his friend and life coach. Justice Pramath Patnaik, retired Orissa HC judge, released the book and presented the first copy to editorial director of TNIE Prabhu Chawla.
