Amiya Bhattacharya

Sadness besieged me
Sadness besieged me
 Alone..
 When I woke up this morning
 An April day
 Thought about the memories
 I so much cherish
 Under the umbrella of sleep
 In the night
 Devoid of those
 Who left no stone unturned
 Ideas
 To kill me..

To mockingbird -
 Who in this large world of infinite desires
 Seeks life in a single pebble
 Floating on the stream
 Flowing down the rocks
 I look and say
 O my bird
 Where dost thou find yourself
 Entranced in this world of eagles
 Who beguile you to clouds
 And cut your wings
 Thrash you to the world beneath..

In the rains befitting my soul
 I look at the clouds
 The rocks of air
 Enticing me to live and
 Then again
 Rocking me down
 A spear of lightening
 Leaving me alone
 A withered leaf
 Drenched with moisture
 But dying of its want...

In a seldom hope that spring shall come
 You spoil your rain
 Thinking about about those memories
 Which never were
 And which never could
 Be part of what you see suiting your life
 Because my friend
 Everyone is as alone as you are
 Behind that mask of smiles
 Everyone is as weak as you are
 Enshrouded by an armour
 Who keeps hopes away
 And allows not the life
 To come out of it..

And being alone in rain
 We pity others
 Trying to feel strength
 In the weakness of others
 Deceiving our weak self
 That yes there is someone
 Who needs our help
 There is someone who is
 As wretched as we don't
 Want the world to know about us..
 And we perish
 By the hands of a fox in sheep
 And leave our world adrift
 Of any hope of happiness...

© Rahul Sharma 2012

To know more about Amiya Bhattacharya, click on any of his paintings below:

Results - Poetry Writing Contest: 1

Dear Poets,
We would like to thank you all for participating in Ekphrasis India's Poetry Writing Contest: 1. Your time and effort is greatly appreciated by our team. We apologize for the delay in announcing the results. The reviews too shall soon be sent to all the participants.

Before we declare the results, we would like to share some good news with our readers.
Ekphrasis India will soon launch its very own online magazine - EI 

EI aims at bridging the gap between various art forms. It promotes budding artists and poets by giving them a platform to express their creativity.
The Editorial Board - Samik Bhattacharya, Rahul sharma, Mihir Vatsa, Anukriti Sharma

Here's the cover of our January issue. Concept and Design - Anukriti Sharma -

18 poets shall be featured in EI ( Their poems shall be published in our magazine along with a short bio/photograph). Their words brought life to the colours and characters of Samik Bhattacharya's painting. Ekphrasis India team wishes all of you the very best in life. Congratulations!

EI's featured poets along with their poems :

♀
1. Annie Besant - The House That Love Built
2. Jaya Swarup - Have Nots
3. Madhumita Ghosh - Play on...
4. Nishi Jain - The Evening Song
5. Pooja Sharma Rao - Patriarchy
6. Reena Prasad - Aurulent Tones
7. Rukhaya MK - The Sound of Music
8. Susma Sharma Gurumayum - The Gathering
9. Zeenath Ibrahim - Absences

♂
1. Abhishek Rath - A Panegyric on the Painting
2. Abhishek Srivasta (Sahir) - Us Shaam Hua Yuun Mehfil Mein (It so happened that evening)
3. Arvind Kumar Sharma - Raga of Life
4. Cijo Abraham Mani - The Durbar of Music
5. Dr. A.V. Koshy - Tansen
6. Felino A. Soriano - Assemblage of approbated rhythms
7. Gopakumar.R - I sing for you
8. Rajarajan - The Man behind the Veil
9. Suraj Samtani - Inspired to Perform

The magazine can be viewed online from 15th March.
If you have any queries or would like to contribute in EI -
Mail us at ekphrasis.india@gmail.com


The Winners of Poetry Writing Contest: 1Heartiest Congratulations to all the winners. We shall soon contact you.

1st Prize - Poet of the Month - Receives a special prize from Ekphrasis India along with a winner badge.
Reena Prasad for her poem "Aurulent Tones"
Sharjah, UAE

2nd Prize - Receives a special prize from Ekphrasis India along with a winner badge.
Rajarajan for his poem "The Man Behind the Veil"
Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India

3rd Prize - Poem to be published in Vayavya Magazine
Felino A. Soriano for his poem "Assemblage of approbated rhythms"
California, USA

4th Prize - Poem to be published in Impulse Magazine
Abhishek Rath for his poem "A Panegyric on the Painting"
Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India

Thank you,
Ekphrasis India Team

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival - Mumbai, 2012

Straight from the Horse's mouth

Anukriti Sharma visits Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and brings to you a glimpse of Mumbai's artistic, vibrant colours.
To know more about Kala Ghoda Association click on the picture below: 

Mumbai's Pride

The Festival of Art

Something to crow about

Cube of Compassion

Best out of Waste

Chat in Denims

Have an eye on art

Little things that matter

Smoking Kills!

Time to unlock bottled corridors

Big Catch

Back to the Future

Embrace Life

Let Go of everything that pulls you back

Words on a Wooden Horse

Give Peace a chance

Corruption Down Under

Mumbaikars

The modern Yamraj

Colours of Life

Up in the Air

Street Art

Peopled by people

Handle with Care

Art Expressed

Your i-dentity

Little children wiser than men

Treat for Shopaholics

The Majestic Kala Ghoda

Bottled Lantern

In a nutshell

Poetry Writing Contest: 1

Do you love writing poems? Do verses flow from your pen the moment you see a beautiful creation? Does art appeal to your senses? If yes, then this contest is for you.

Ekphrasis India invites poets from across the globe to participate in its first Poetry Writing Contest.

All you need to do is write a poem based on this painting made by our in-house artist Samik Bhattacharya.

The Ten Commandments/ Guidelines:
1. Poems should be written in English. You can also write in vernaculars/other languages, but if you do so, please try and include a translated version alongside.

2. The poem must be based on the given painting. And yes, don't forget to title your poem. Irrelevant entries shall be rejected.

3. Submit your work here - ekphrasis.india@gmail.com Do mention your name, location and other details you would want to share with us.

4. Entries shall be accepted from Tuesday 31st January, 2012 to Wednesday 22nd February. Multiple entries are allowed but late entries shall not be entertained.

5. The Best Poet shall be conferred the title of "Poet of the Month".  He/She shall receive a personalised "winner badge" and also get his/her poem published on Impulse and Vayavya Magazines.

6. Top poems shall be published on Ekphrasis India.

7. Anukriti Sharma, Mihir Vatsa, Samik Bhattacharya and Rahul Sharma shall judge the entries on the basis of creativity, content, and relevance.

8. This contest is open to people from all over the world. We do not discriminate poets on the basis of gender, religion, colour, caste, creed, community, ethnicity etc. Please refrain from writing hateful/discriminatory content.

9. For further queries/questions leave a comment or contact us on - ekphrasis.india@gmail.com We are always happy to help.

10. Free Review! Contestants can now get their poem reviewed by our team. All  you need to do is write"Feedback" or "Review my Poem"  in the subject line. Free review is applicable only to the contestants who follow the guidelines. We might take some time to respond, so please be patient.

All the Best! :)

This is the painting for the Contest:

©  Samik Bhattacharya

Gouri Vemula

Ev-e-il

Light-bearer

Lucifer

lurks

around

the world

he

darkened...

While  Eve

lives a life

of damnation...

No longer chaste - 

never to be

hearkened!

Birds of prey

prey upon her beauty...

And devils of hatred

Assemble

to do

the

death duty.

Following Satan's decree

she lies

fettered

within

the folds of

a tree...

And

Kinnara

looks

at her

with

horse-eyes

of caprice

Lecherous demons

Conquer

every side...

As

the waters of doom

Rape Adam's bride...

Styx, the river

Is bleeding red

Adam is dead

Oh!Adam is dead!

A boat

now

lies stagnant

on the shore

But it moves no more

It moves no more!

©Anukriti Sharma 2012 

To know more about Gouri Vemula, click on any of his paintings below:  

Satish Multhalli

Re-Death
I kill my present,

looking for a future past

-when I was sad,

happy too-

to meet the ghosts of past

-I kill my present-

who scream to me

that they helped me once

out of the grave they put me into-

laughed at me; held my shoulder

killed me; gave me a new life

when from a happy present

I had retreated to them

"once upon a time"…

I kill myself:

everyday,

every night,

to wake up anew

with new thoughts

but into a past

listening to them-

the ghosts of past-

which were too dear to me

the ally,

and reasons,

of my bad past…

And the cycle continues-

taking birth

committing suicide

every day-

-being sad in past

-questioning the present

compromising with pain

being contented with those in pain

-a patient with a patient-

not coming out of

of the hospital:of past..

And being surprised

when happiness comes

-the ray of hope-

the quest:

for darkness overpowers;

and you recede back

-once again-

killing yourself

meeting your friends

-the fellow patients-

suffering like you

not ready to heal
but making everyone sick…
©Rahul Sharma 2012

To know more about Satish Multhalli, click on any of his paintings below:

Ranabir Saha

Gautam Buddha Road   

In the Delhi winter,
a rickshaw rushed beside 

her insomniac steps,

stalked by many libidinal eyes.

©Mihir Vatsa 2012

To know more about Ranabir Saha, click on any of his paintings below:

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