HALDHAR NAG
POET
Nature has played an influential role in shaping up his poetic instincts and connecting his poetry with real life. The themes of his poems are mostly based on nature, society, mythology and religion. His writings are in Koshali language. His literary works mostly include a fighter who fights his own struggles, social reorganization through protecting human dignity. He is Popularly known as ‘Lok Kavi Ratna’ in Odisha. He is an epitome of ‘Simple living, high thinking’ which was evident when this man came bare foot to receive his Padma Shri Award.
He is Haldhar Nag, a poet who barely attended any school but influenced five scholars who based their PhD research on his poems and epics. Haldhar has an art of shaping his thoughts differently and distinctly and that’s why a compilation of his writings has been made a part of the syllabus in Sambalpur University. He rightly said, ‘Everyone is a poet, but only a few have the art of giving them shape’.
In 1990, he got his first poem published in a local magazine. Despite his painful life journey his passion for writing poems never stopped. His literary contribution includes 20 epics in his language. His writings are compared with that of famous poet Gangadhar Meher for his inimitable Sambalpuri Style of writing. His poetry has been translated into Hindi and English languages and presented in various literary programmes, seminars in various universities nationwide. The famous poet Gulzar has also paid tribute to him as ‘Son of the soil’ in his poem.
The man who has never used ‘Shri’ before his name has been conferred with the fourth highest civilian Award ‘Padma Shri’ by the Government of India in the year 2016.
VARINDIA salutes this rich personality by featuring him as the Crown Jewels of Odisha.