Sugata Bhattacharyya

born 15 May, 1990
left 3rd. December, 2008

Sugata was soft-spoken and polite. His intelligent eyes exuded humour and warmth, which often culminated in his witty remarks and in his helpfulness to his friends and needy persons.

Sugata’s innate honesty sometimes forced him to take a different view about the outer world, yet he was never harsh or rough to others. But his gentle appearance belies a strong imagination and a core of steel within him. He is unsparing in his own expressions.

Since childhood Sugata used to write, draw, compose, sing and do other titbits at home. He is so prolific that a collection of his writings, notes, drawings etc. would run into over a thousand pages. Eventually that will be published, but, for the present, a portion of his writings, along with comments, is presented. These writings and comments have been taken from Sugata’s contributions at Xanga.com where he wrote under the pen name – Poet_LeTaur.

Sugata announced his arrival at Xanga.com with the following:

Xanga

Welcome to the Poets’ Corner. This site is meant for those who believe in the saying “The pen is stronger than the sword”. (Unfortunately, nuclear weapons are as strong or stronger than the pen. Depending on how nuclear energy is utilized, within the next millennium, human civilization may either become the masters of the solar system or remnants of the glory of a past civilization). From time to time I will post some poems and other compositions of mine. As for you, my readers, feel free to e-mail me your poems and compositions which I shall post in this space (of course, giving credit to the sender as the poet). In the end, this site is meant to increase the influence of the pen. Come, let us all strive to empower it…

Sugata’s writings-published in this book- have been arranged in chronological order of posting at Xanga.com. The date of posting of each writing is given at the end of it, followed by related comments. As far as possible, a replication of Sugata’s postings has been maintained. Part of his writings, which is integral to the posting, but not to his main work, has been italicized.

Sugata died a boy, but lived a man. But what Sugata was – let the readers see themselves from his own work.

Editor’s Note

“I shall love the world
And its children
And nephews”

(Amendment)

“Who is the I that governs I and bows to I? Heart!”

(Heart)

Such words mark the emotional centre-point of Sugata, whose third posthumous collection Crooning Down the Valley is placed before the reader.

Sugata’s first two books, an orphean lute (January 2009) and This is where I stand (December 2009), have seeped through the minds of sensitive readers, internationally. It is a proof of Sugata the artist’s magical ability to catch the ephemeral and turn it into eternity.

Sugata left behind numerous sketches and drawings. His bold and strong lines are not mere quirks. To a discerning eye his visual images might be more appealing than his verbal imagery. So, a few of his sketches have been included in this book.

Barring a few, the titles have been given by Sugata himself. The editor put in titles where no title was available.

The editor expresses his heartfelt thanks to Elisabeth Guenther and Alokeranjan Dasgupta for their erudite and consummate introduction. The editor is also grateful to Alokeranjan Dasgupta for taking the pain of selecting sugata’s all sketches including cover.

Arindam Chakravarty
Kolkata
09.01.2012