Lockdown

"In post - modern Odia poetry, Bhawani Shankar Nial enjoys a very distinctively creative life, spanning of around three decades of relentless devotion in multifarious literary activities. Born in a modest village ‘singjher’ in the undivided Kalahandi district of Odisha, he plunged, at an early age, into the realm of social service, raising his voice resoundingly for the greater cause of the society and humanity as a whole. His is a voice that echoes beyond ideology, history and theories of socio - cultural commitment. Bhawani stepped his little but prominent feet into the arena of odia poetry after his maiden odia poetry collection ‘Shrusti’ came into light in 1997. Since then, he has been extensively writing poetry in Odia language and has created a special niche for himself both as a poet and an editor in quite a few literary magazines. He is also the Chief Editor of ‘The Mahuri’, a leading and widely circulated Odia magazine. Poetry is the supreme statement of life. Bhawani’s poems embody a hieroglyphic manifestation on variegated minutiae of human conditions and relationships. His poetic oeuvre impregnated with multidimensional themes of love and longings at one hand and unmusical themes of bread, food, hunger etc. on the other. In this marooned moments of self-survival, when there is stark silence everywhere in the wake of icy lockdown, the poetic self is very much aware of the sense of defeatism and confusion experienced by the common man in a global perspective."