Mahapatra's Relationship and ITS Dimension

Jayant Mahapatra has been considered one of the most successful poets precisely for the reason that inspite of English being his early creative medium, his sensibilities as a poet operate within the boundaries of his typically Oriya culture. This grants the poet originality and authenticity of a major poetic voice. The very fact that he has translated both the traditional and contemporary Oriya poetry is evidence enough of Mahapatra's vital links with his environment, language and people. Mahapatra wrote poetry with the conviction that form is never less important than the content and it is the form of a poem that contributes to its totality. As he grew up, Mahapatra wrote with his art rooted in the soil and his poetry sprang from a strong awareness of his Indian heritage. The poet now was pre-occupied with his personal memory and Orissa myth and the two are inextricably woven together since they are both parts of a sensitive individual's total experiences. The maturity of Mahapatra is visible in his bilingual poetry. He, even before the appearance of Relationship in 1980 struck poetry readers and his critics as a poet in his own right who had something significant to say. He also knew how to say what he so ardently desired. The secret of his success lay in him not disowning his Indian inheritance and not falling a prey to the feeling of alienation. He steered clear of the pitfalls of his earlier poetry and the result was an unmistakable authenticity of tone and treatment.