Ramchandra Pramanik
A compelling collection of translated poems by Ramchandra Pramanik, blending wit, irony, and philosophical depth in Sreejata Paul’s masterful English renderings
Read a review by Parcham Journal: Click here In The Opposite Bank and Other Poems by poet Ramchandra Pramanik, the translated poems are primarily selections from his two volumes of poetry Ushri Pare Ratir and Madhuram. Sreejata Paul’s skilled translations of Pramanik’s nuanced poetry, opens up new vistas of poetic expression, that adroitly combines sense and sensibility, wit and irony, philosophical and caustic reflections about the world and the self trapped within the unpredictable world of indeterminism. Pramanik’s poems are often brief, like master strokes of a paint brush that recount stories of the past as well as inscribe the present. His three ‘Tiger’ poems and the three-part ‘Poetry of Contemplation’ along with ‘Missed Call’, ‘Daydream’ and ‘Metamorphosis’ among many others, span a wide trajectory, from the empirical to the ontological, with noticeable poetic elan. The following lines prove the skills of both poet Ramchandra Pramanik and his translator Sreejata Paul– Are laughter and joy sisters? What a juxtaposition! Perhaps co-wives? Daggers drawn! Dr Sanjukta DasguptaPresident, Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library, Charles Wallace Translation Fellow, BCIT University of East Anglia, Norwich (2016), poet, scholar, translator and critic.
