Northeast poet slams organizers over being called Nepali

TOI, Panaji, Goa, 21 Mar 2015: PANAJI: Poet Subash Rai Sotang expressed his displeasure at being referred to as a "Nepali poet" during a symposium on northeast Indian literature hosted by the Union ministry of culture`s west zone cultural centre, Udaipur, and directorate of art and culture, Goa, at Kala Academy, Panaji, on Friday. "I am as much of an Indian as anyone of you here. Don`t make me a Nepali foreigner," said the poet addressing the audience and organizers.

Speaking exclusively to TOI later, he said, "There is a lot of unawareness in the country about northeast Indians. I was born in Darjeeling and so were my forefathers. Yet, I have to usually face these attitudes.

"Sotang was among the poets on the symposium`s panel. The symposium on contemporary northeast Indian literature was part of the ongoing four-day festival, Octave, a cultural extravaganza showcasing arts and crafts of India`s northeastern states. When it was his turn to recite his poems, `The tourist and I` and `To the refined writers`, the compere referred to him as a "Nepali poet" while reading out his biodata.

Irked by this, Sotang took to the podium to convey his resentment towards the organizers` ignorance. "Do I look like I`m from Nepal?" he demanded. "Isn`t this a symposium on contemporary northeast Indian literature? I do speak Nepali and my poems are in the same language, but I have been a citizen of India since birth.

" The compere, Siddi Upadhyay, who works as a cultural organizer for the Goa department, apologized the moment Sotang finished reciting his poems. "I meant that the poet will be reciting in Nepali, not a poet from Nepal. I was merely going by the information printed on the festival`s invite," she said.

The invite contained the list of poets scheduled for the symposium and the language of their poems bracketed against their name. Sotang's name had the word Nepali against it in brackets. Showing the same, the compere cited that as the reason behind the misunderstanding.
An official of the west zone cultural centre, Udaipur, when contacted, said the poet may have been referred to as a Nepali-language poet since the symposium was related to northeast Indian literature and all were aware about it.
Also present on the panel, Goan playwright Pundalik Naik opined, "We claim regions but never its people. If Kashmir and the northeast states are ours then so are the people. Literature has the power to dispense geographical borders. Its purpose is not just to delight the reader, but to develop minds too."