Chiaroscuro Effect:DrIrani Hazarika's The Last Destination

BOOK REVIEW

This flow is the basic urge of reaching a destination. Assam,being the land of Luit is replete with Destination poems where we find images of the fountain mingling with the river, and river with the ocean as is seenoftentimes in poems of Bhupen Hazarika or Dev Kanta Barua. But suddenly Dr Irani Hazarika came out with her debut book The Last Destination to relate this flow with the life cycle of living beings. Poetry is like an ocean. Our life is a voyage in this unchartered vast sheet of water without any fixed destination.

Questions regarding the implicit connotation of the phrase, 'Last Destination' become inevitable for the emphatic 'Last' which has a tautological meaning. Each birth is conditioned by death. Each voyage is conditioned by a destination. In between the stage that humans pass may be called life."The days were long and they were cold/Your final destination /Is the place you were before in dreams/I'm certain this you know." wrote James McLain in his poem, 'The Last Destination' (2018). Dr Irani too made adroit use of metaphors and imagery of the river and ocean by focusing on the flow of the flow- the mystic fluidity of time which is really amazing in poem after poem in this book. One haiku by a poet on 'Destination' focused on this flow "It's like a river/You're a tiny stick in it /So, go with the flow...!"

However, Dr Irani herself explained the term, 'Last Destination' as a' law of mutability in nature and human life'. After the journey is commenced, gradually movement towards the inevitable ending begins.There arealso other poems on smiles and tears of life but all linked to the central theme of 'Journey'. In 'Aji Hoi Poril Seujia' `Prem Bishad Jibon Aru Ananya' the poet sounds romantic. But there is an underlying theme of alternate spells of dejection and hope. In the poem 'Makara' for example, the poet stresses on the futility of life through apt imagery. Again, in the poem 'Xunyota'Dr Irani writes poignantly "Everything was there that we call Life/ Only the thing that was not missed was;Dream'." Many may interpret the poetic philosophy of Dr Irani as a pessimistic one. But more than philosophical, they are poetical like the poem'Osinaki'where Dr Irani speaks of the photos hanging from the station wall which never change in spite of the changes around them This chiaroscuro effect enriches the sombre texture of the poems which have a deceptive simplicity to conceal the deeper meaning as if in a hieroglyph.

DrIrani Hazarika was born to MrMohan Hazarika and Mrs Utpala Hazarika in 1986 at Charaidoloni, Narayanpur, Lakhimpur. She completed her PhD in Computer Science.With her debut poem: "Radha", published in "Purbanchal" a weekly supplement of daily newspaper Amar Asom, she entered the world of poetry. This may be called her first inspiration in her commitment to poetry. Besides her poetic commitment she is also the Home Committee member of Child Care Institute (Orphanage) of RedCross Society, Lankeswar, Guwahati.

Interestingly her first work was a short story entitled. "Bejarot Ejar, Hahit GadhuliGopal", which was published in renowned Assamese magazine,Satsori in October 2018.

As the selection of topics in her poem Dr Irani is very Catholic minded and she frankly expressed her openness to all subjects under the sun. As a poet she finds pleasure in everything like Addison's spectator. "It is the aesthetic expression that matters most in a poem" she said.

Some of her other short stories are published in Assamese magazine like Prantik, Anyayug, and Aaina Jibonar which shows her simultaneous flair for prose writing.Being a teacher of Computer Science in a heritage university of Assam she passes her hectic life of academic preoccupations, especially in her research in Data Mining.From her college days she has had a keen interest in photography.

Her poems have a graphic quality simply because of this passion for photography. She passed her childhood in the idyllic surroundings of Lakhimpur and obviously her poems are replete with the rural imageries of Assam. Even in her use of idiom she impresses the readers with the rich stock of idioms typically used in the villages. This makes her depiction of Nature very vivid and picturesque. Her poems are remarkable for implicit messages of social value besides the rich aesthetic focus.

'Paschadgaman', 'Badha' , 'Aji Hoi Poril Seujia, 'Prem Bishad Jibon Aru Ananya', and the ever memorable 'Xonowali Patharor Rupowali Katha' take the reader to a new horizon of poetic mapping. Moving is a constant image in her poems.

The first poem 'Paschadgaman' is about a retreat to the past in time as she writes, "While I was moving forward / Time was staying back behind" and she reached it only through nostalgic illusions. The concluding stanza is fascinating," The two souls, one's hand in the other's, waited in silence slated for an unknown destination for ever."

In the poem 'Xunyota" (Vacuum) the poet again imagines moving all alone in the dark uncertain ambience in quest of tears of joy.This chiaroscuro effect persists in the poetic effusion of many of the poems of the volume.Sometimes it is the journey says Drake, that teaches you a lot about the destination. In the mythical journey of the Magi for meeting the new bornbaby Jesus is fraught with mystic significance. In the poetry of Dr Irani we find glimpses of such mystic journey where one sets out on a voyage only in quest of some unknown truths of this unintelligible world. Comprehension of life's mysteries are difficult. Only what we can utmost do is to move on towards a destination- this is the quest for life in the dark inscrutable universe. In times to come more maturity will be gained in her poetic philosophy but the poems are no less a testimony to her inner urges where the philosopher seems to supersede the poet in her. The poems need good translation into English and other languages so that they can reach the wider audience. But in the meantime, DrIrani should herself carry on with her poetic voyage to meet her own last destination of poetic success. Purbayon has done a wonderful job in presenting the book in the best possible way –book cover and error free proof reading.

Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee

Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee, Senior Academician and Trilingual Columnist and poet may be reached at profratanbhattacharjee@gmail.com

Book Title: The Last Destination (Assamese)

Author: Dr Irani Hazarika

Publisher: Purbayon Publication, Panbazar, Guwahati

Year: 2021

Price: 120/-

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