First New England Regional Folk Literature and Oral Poetry Festival – An IDC event
It was a privilege to attend the first New England Regional Folk Literature and Oral Poetry Festival on a beautiful morning on September 25th. The festival was organized by the India Discovery Center (IDC) and supported by the Cambridge Arts Council and Massachusetts Cultural Council.
The event started with Dr. Bijoy Misra’s welcoming remarks. He also provided the historical background of the poetry group South Asian Poets of New England that organized the event. Among many wonderful educational activities IDC also organizes poetry reading that started at Harvard University in 1997. In the beginning poets of Indian origin participated and appreciated different languages of India. In 2016 the group extended to other South Asian counties and languages. The group was known as South Asian Poets of New England (SAPNE). Now broadening further this event invited poets from New England neighbourhoods representing the whole world.
First, Mr. V. Rampriya chanted the Rigvedic hymn to invoke the goddess of speech. Then as a host and captain Lynn Noel took the audience on a world tour of folk songs. The journey started from the Boston harbor, and she sang the sailor’s Sea Chantey. We sailed to the luxurious coast of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil where the poetess Renata da Costa sang a poem by Antonio Carlos Jobim. From Brazil we traveled to Chennai in India. Dressed as a fisherman the Tamil poet Sivaram Sivasubramanian described fisherman’s view of nature and how they see nature in everything they use for fishing.
Next, we arrived in Autumn in Germany. The poetess Irmgard Aurillo, recited a German poem that describes the Autumn. Autumn marks the change in season and is beautiful competing with other seasons. Then in Paris, French friend Sarah Phat shared a French folk fable regarding a raven and a fox. The story cautions against flattering. The story was followed by the veteran Italian poet Giovanni Aurillo who sang a piece from the Dante’s Divine Comedy. Next we heard the Hungarian poet Bela Kosaras who sang emotional poem regarding missing the land of his birth. He recalled the beauty and the spirit of his country being displaced in a foreign land.
From Hungary, we traveled to Rajasthan in India to meet the poet Prem Nagar who sang a devotional poem narrating the triumph of the good. Moving north in India, we heard the poetess Sunayana Kachroo from Kashmir. She recited her self-composed poem based on the Kashmiri popular Vakh style. The poet looks for love and finds trust is missing. Then we reached Bengal and met Rahul Ray who sang a Baul song regarding spiritual unity and racial harmony. Bauls are Sufi-fakirs, and wanderers. His selection was written by Lalon Shah fakir.
Still in India, we moved to central India. The poet Kushagra Aniket, recited his self-composed Sanskrit stotra poem regarding significance and grace of the Narmada river. Settlers have traveled these banks for many centuries in search of food and shelter. We traveled south to Karnataka in India and reached a potters’ village where women have been preparing and designing clay pots since times unknown. We met poetess Geetha Patil who recited in Kannada. The poem described the lifestyle and work of a kumbhkar (clay pot maker).
We sailed across the Indian Ocean and reached Cambodia. We met Vithoura Phat who paid homage to her deceased mother. Darith Phat recited the Cambodian poem. We returned to the US to observe the pathos at the southern border. The Spanish poet Sergio Inestrosa recited the Migrant Christ. Through the poem we heard the voices of Mexicans trying to cross the border in search of a better life. Finally we returned to Italy to conclude at the holy land. Franco Vitelio was sick and Giovanni Aurillo with his wife Irgard Aurillo recited a Neopolitan poem written by Nobel prize winner Salvatore Quasimodo. The poem gave message to promote peace.
This joyous festival ended with the closing remarks by 93 years old Giovanni Aurillo who blessed all for the universality and friendship. Let the world be a family!
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