An evening of poetry that began with the lilting tunes from an Irish poet’s flute and ended in the resonant vocals of a Baul singer here on Wednesday flagged off a 10-day festival that attempts to revive a culture of exchange between Irish and Indian poets.
The event called ‘A Note Let Go,’ a line from a 9th century Irish syllabic verse, was a part of the visit of a delegation from Queen’s University at Belfast to Kolkata, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Contemporary literary traditions from eastern India were represented by eminent poets Jayanta Mahapatra, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Nabaneeta Sen and Srijato.
But perhaps what enthralled the audience the most was the rendition of Irish verses in mellifluous Celtic tunes by Padraigin Ni Uallachain, a traditional singer who has studied the connections between the music traditions of India and Ireland and describes herself as “not a poet, but a singer of poems.”
