Poetry
Alone on the Aisle
by Biman Saha
Description
Biman Saha’s collection of poems, Alone on the Aisle, vividly captures the heart of Bengali life and culture, where the Bengal terrain represents the canvas upon which he paints man’s drama, his despairs and his hopes. The landscapes so beautifully created here express a reverence for the homeland, a longing for times past. And yet, while Mr. Saha’s poems radiate a rich nostalgia, they are by no means naïve to the striking contrasts and realities of life.
Mr. Saha’s work inhabits an environment where hope and sadness intermingle with memory and nostalgia, as is delicately conveyed in the poem Embers, where the mother river weeps for the parched earth around her, ‘despairing for the unborn seed’ which rises like a phoenix from the charred ground, transformed from smoldering embers to verdant, fertile provider of life. Or in the poem In Search of Ambrosia, which like the Roman god Janus, embraces both the past and the future, the weight of history and the lure of that magical fruit of the gods—the desire for the unknown ideal.
Mr. Saha’s use of language is imbued with the creative forces that enable us to experience the simultaneity of life and guides us with sensitivity from the burdens of the past to the hope of the future. He not only pays tribute to the intoxicating lure of a simpler time under the mystical cloak of Nature’s life forces beneath the depths of the star-filled sky and its fragility—men returning to the hearth so protective of the ‘life force of Nature’ harbored there—but also celebrates how Bengali culture—her lyrical, musical traditions and her great gurus—spring forth from her diverse, yet collective history.
In this first bilingual edition, non-Bengali readers are now able to experience Biman Saha’s inspired use of the Bengali language and lyricism in English. This adept and articulate translation offers us the opportunity to inhabit the emotional and intellectual landscapes Mr. Saha has created through his poetry, and in turn gain a closer glimpse into the Bengali culture and psyche.
More Information
Rights Information
World rights available.
Author Biography
Poet, short story writer and novelist, Biman Saha was born in a poor middle class family in Kolkata in 1951. His ancestral house was at Mirpur, Dhaka, in an undivided Bengal, now in Bangladesh. Displaced from their motherland just before independence, the entire Saha family settled in Calcutta. Mr Saha’s parents struggled hard to set up their family at a new place leaving behind everything they possessed.
Biman was brought up in poverty, scarcity and a perpetual struggle for survival. However, he was a bright scholar. He received a B.Com degree from the University of Calcutta in 1972. He also attended the Law College to attain an LLB degree subsequently.
In his early childhood, Biman never wanted to go to school. He still remembers his first day at school: he burst into tears and wanted to get out of the place immediately. This antipathy to formal education and institutions remained with him till his last day at college.
After graduation Biman got a government job as a trainee Development Officer at Jhargram, West Bengal. He was responsible for educating the adult, cleaning of the local hospital, and community market, teaching of young boys and girls, etc. He enjoyed his work. After a year he joined the Indian Railways. During his tenure there he cleared both the All India Railway Audit Service and Intermediate ICWA.
During his days in the Railways, Biman found his true calling. He started doing some creative work, which had been his lifelong desire. He started writing poems and short stories, performing in amateur theatre productions, publishing a little magazine and participating in every literary and cultural event carried out by the cultural wing of the Railways. It was at this time that Biman, along with some friends began publishing a little magazine titled Rabindranath. Soon Bhasha Binyas, a publishing house, was founded by them to promote progressive and experimental literature.
This period is significant because it allowed Biman to introspect and meditate. All he was looking for was the ultimate truth of human life. Along with some friends, he started studying about the philosophy of life. They discussed the major works of some great thinkers, writers and artists including Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Einstein and Charlie Chaplin to comprehend the nature of their idiosyncratic ways of arriving at the truth. Soon Biman’s love for and devotion to the immortal works of Rabindranath Tagore overshadowed his admiration of all other titans.
He was with the Indian Railways for more than ten years since 1978. In 1988 he joined a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways and continued therein till his retirement. During his service in the PSU he had been posted in Bangladesh for six and half years (1989-1995). His upcoming novel is about Bangladesh. There he has tried to portray the country’s beautiful nature, the simple poor people, their hospitality and the impact of socio economic conditions on their daily life.
At present, he is a practising lawyer at Calcutta High Court.
Copyright Information
Copyright © 2021 Biman Saha
Global Collective Publishers
Global Collective Publishers, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an independent publisher whose mission is to provide a platform for voices from around the world, crossing the borders of language, culture, religion, and gender, and to create a space where diverse communities can share and exchange stories that express their individual and shared sense of humanity through a variety of literary genres in fiction and non-fiction. In a world that feels increasingly more alienating, it is our aim to work towards dispelling the fear of the other and stand against literature of hatred, embracing the shared human experience in its myriad textures and voices through a curiosity-driven life. Global Collective is committed to publishing across a diverse landscape of fiction and non-fiction, in the areas of religion and spirituality, personal growth and self-transformation, gender and LGBT+ studies, social awareness, art and cinema. Global Collective takes to heart Booker Prize winner Ben Okri’s assertion that “stories can conquer fear… they can make the heart bigger.”Global Collective Publishers seeks unique and extraordinary literature that satiates our desire to gain a deeper understanding of the world around us and to discover points of commonality amongst our differences where words have no borders.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher Global Collective Publishers
- Publication Date January 2021
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 9781734401981
- Publication Country or regionUnited States
- FormatPaperback
- Primary Price 11.99 USD
- Pages56
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusUnpublished
- Copyright Year2021
- Page size228 x 152 (228 x 152) mm
Thank you for proceeding with this offer.
Global Collective Publishers has chosen to review this offer before it proceeds.
You will receive an email update that will bring you back to complete the process.
You can also check the status in the My Offers area
Global Collective Publishers has chosen to review this offer before it proceeds.
You will receive an email update that will bring you back to complete the process.
You can also check the status in the My Offers area
Please wait while the payment is being prepared.
Do not close this window.
(c) Copyright 2024 - Frankfurt Rights. All Right Reserved