Pravat Kumar Padhy has obtained his Masters of Science and Technology and a Ph.D from Indian Institute of Technology, ISM Dhanbad. His literary work is cited in Interviews with Indian Writing in English, Spectrum History of Indian Literature in English, Alienation in Contemporary Indian English Poetry, History of Contemporary Indian English Poetry, etc. His Japanese short forms of poetry (Haiku, Haibun, Haiga, Tanka,Tanka Prose) have been widely published. “How Beautiful”, a poem written by him, is included in the Undergraduate English Curriculum at the university level. He has seven collections of verse to his credit.

His poems received many awards, honours, and commendations including the Editors’ Choice Award at Writers Guild of India, Sketchbook, Asian American Poetry, Poetbay, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival International Haiku Honourable Mention, UNESCO International Year Award of Water Co-operation, The Kloštar Ivanić International Haiku Award, IAFOR Vladimir Devide Haiku Award, and others. His work is showcased in the exhibition “Haiku Wall”, Historic Liberty Theatre Gallery in Bend, Oregon, USA, and tanka, ‘I mingle’ is featured in the “Kudo Resource Guide”, University of California, Berkeley. His Taiga (Tanka-Photo) is featured in the 20th Anniversary Taiga Showcase of American Tanka Society. His tanka has been put on rendition in the Musical Drama Performance, ‘Coming Home’, The International Opera Through Art Songs, Toronto, Canada. He has experimented with a new genre of the linked form, Hainka: the fusion of haiku and tanka.

He guest-edited for Per Diem (Celestial Bodies-Monoku), The Haiku Foundation, November Issue, 2019. He is nominated to the prestigious panel of ‘The Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems’, The Haiku Foundation, USA. Presently he is the Editor of Haibun, Haiga and Visual Haiku of the Journal, ‘Under the Basho’.

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My Thoughts on Poetry:

The poetic ecstasies and journey of human life are parallel and perennial, beyond space and time. The essence of poetry nestles in the diligent fragrance of the flower, the simplicity of flow of the river, the gentle spread of leaves, the calmness of the ocean, and the embellishment of soothing shadow. Poetry unveils the physics behind light and sound, the chemistry of colour and aroma, and the geological expression of the landscapes.

Poetry inspires to unfold the sublime spiritual wealth of the tiny dust particle as it embodies the basic building block of creation: the living and the non-living. The mystic of art and literature delightfully reveals the kaleidoscope of science through colorful flair of human aspiration. It amalgamates the spiritual romanticism, transcendentalism and intellectual cadence of human beings in the perennial journey along the corridor of nature’s panorama of blissful beauty”.

The tiniest object of nature has its genuine worth in this world and it is associated with us in different forms. Perhaps it is the discovery of this truth that has given rise to the genesis of Haiku poem. Haiku imparts life to every object in the form of a vivid image. Essentially the genre acts as a diligent medium of exploration of the beauty of a wide spectrum of living and non-living entities. The tiny seed of haiku sprouts into a beautiful tree of wisdom. The doctrine of ‘haikuism’ will usher in building a planet of nature’s paradise and the abode of peace and brotherhood.

The art of poetry glimmers the symphony of love and peace and epitomizes the culture through ages. The philosophy of poetry keeps on flowing like ripples of rhythm through time and space. It muses with the innocence of the animals, songs of the birds, swinging branches of the trees, braided rhythm of a waterfall, shifting shadows of mountains, breezing touch of the dunes of desert and silence of the azure sky!

Science is the composite reflection, and poetry is its genetic soul. Let us put poetry to thrive in time and anti-time, in matter and antimatter. Let it blossom the aesthetic sublimity of human life, blissful endurance, and creative opulence. Like a flower, let it sprinkle the divine fragrance to fulfill the purpose of social renaissance, fostering peace and fraternity with the art of expression, perfection, and purity.

I am a tiny bird dwelling in my nest and singing songs for others and to the surroundings. The beautiful nature, the mysterious celestial dance, tiny grass to gigantic tree, the spectrum of a living organism, the silence of the desert, loneliness of parting, the vastness of the sky, the softness of snow, the burden of grief and sufferings, tender smiles of the kids, glorious womanhood, etc. influence my poetry. I feel I am not a poet, I am a medium to transcreate the treasure of the grains of sand and silence of the shells. Life is a poem, music its journey!