Poet Sayed Hashmat  Jalal Reflects on Romantic Notes & the Poetic Self

Our guest today is a well-known Bengali Poet Sayed Hashmat Jalal, from the Indian state of West Bengal. In this interview he talks about Poetry and Romanticism and its relationship to reality . He says how the exploration within oneself can relate to the interactive relationship within human beings and beyond. Having been inspired by the patriotism of his father, he once joined Indian Airforce . In an answer to a question Jalal says he does not find any contradiction between his being poetically romantic and joining the reality of airforce . On the contrary , he feels that it his intense sense of romanticism which when transformed into patriotism drew him to airforce .


Jalal also mentions his recent visit to Bangladesh where he has seen how enthusiastically Bengali New Year is celebrated which is remarkably different from its celebration in West Bengal. He thinks Bengali new year is in effect the national celebration in Bangladesh but he wants that the difference in Bengali calenders across the border should be settled so that all Bengalis , irrespective of the fact which side of the border they are in , should celebrate this great occasion on one single day.