This lockdown, I’m sharing Bengali poems with the world: Aparna Sen

I have noticed that when it comes to Bengali poetry, most people get stuck within some limited

works

by Rabindranath Tagore. Therefore, this lockdown, I am on a mission to share works of lesser-known Bengali

poets

with the world. I have decided to take the oeuvre of Bengali poets to the non-Bengali community.

There are so many Bengali poets who deserve to be known all over the world. I’ve started reading out some of their

poems

in English on social media. The response has been overwhelming. I’ve chosen poems by Joy Goswami,

Sankha Ghosh

, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Premendra Mitra,

Jibananda Das

and several others. People from Mumbai, Chicago, Italy and other places have been responding positively to the poetry sessions.

This is a dark time and we do not know what is going to happen next. Despite having access to limited resources, everyone is doing their bit, and so am I. Besides, I am extending my help to a few social workers, who are relentlessly distributing food among the needy. None of us knows when and how we can start working again. But the good part is so many people are coming forward to help others in their own little ways.