Assamese wordsmith Nilamani Phookan awarded the 'Jnanpith'

Guwahati: Bold, thematic imagery and innovative use of words coupled with a humble demeanour has been the hallmark of Jnanpith Award winning Assamese poet Nilamani Phookan, which garnered admiration from contemporaries and attracted younger writers and readers.

A socially conscious poet, Phookan experimented for decades with thoughts and words since he began writing in the 1950s, and continued to do so till two years ago, when ill-health forced him to stop his pen from creating more poetry. sA fading memory notwithstanding, when the news of his winning the highest literary award was conveyed to him by wife Dulumoni Phookan earlier this week, it brought a smile to his face and the 88-year old Padma Shri awardee responded: ‘‘Bhal khobor, bhal khobor (it is a good news).”

The family, though elated, also regrets that the recognition has come at a time when he is not in a position to enjoy the honour bestowed on him due to ill-health, his wife said. The award will, however, inspire and encourage young poets and writers who in turn will surely go on to enrich Assamese literature, his son Amitav Phookan said. The octogenarian litterateur is the third recipient of the Jnanpith Award from the north-eastern state after Birendranath Bhattacharya and Mamoni (Indira) Raisom Goswami. Phookan’s works have taken Assamese poetry to new heights as his writings reach out to people’s hearts, Assam Sahitya Sabha President Kuladhar Saikia said.

‘‘His translation of foreign language poems, particularly Japanese, introduced the readers to their images and emotions expressed in the local language,” Saikia said. The Assam Sahitya Sabha has already conferred on him the title of ‘Jatiya Kabi’ and ‘Sahityacharya’, and ‘‘we will take more steps in the near future to ensure that his works are accessible to more people within the state and outside’’, Saikia added. —(PTI)