Interview with Gopal Lahiri [FIVE QUESTIONS]

Recipient of the Poet of the year award in Destiny Poets, UK, 2016, the   featured poet award in Poetry in A Cup, USA, 2004 and a winner of Haiku in Poetry.com, USA, 2004, Gopal Lahiri is a well reputed bilingual poet with many publications world -wide.
 Today we are honored to have him in Five Questions.
So,  let us be all ears to his candid answers to some candid questions. 
Here we go.
Santosh: Q 1 Does the world know the real Gopal Lahiri, or is he hidden behind a mask? Tell us some interesting incidents of your childhood. Were you shy? Diffident? Pessimistic? Optimistic? Reclusive? Gregarious? Taciturn? Garrulous? What is your Achilles’ heel? Your idiosyncrasies? Tell us about an incident from your childhood which left an indelible impression on your psyche.

Gopal Lahiri : Oh! Yes! I am what I am. Right now, I am behind the mask but that is because of the Pandemic. But I must say,  that I am really uncomfortable with the mask. I am a shy person. I talk less but love to listen to others. Even though I am a reserved person, I am actually very restless inside. Some of my friends tell me that my eyes speak loudly behind the high -power glass. 

Santosh : Ah,  the poet with the speaking eyes- eyes that speak volumes.  That reminds me, once  while talking to you [ in the virtual world, of course,] I could almost sense your eyes speaking with great eloquence, while you rhapsodized about your love for cricket. Tell me , if I am wrong. 

Gopal Lahiri: Yes, in my childhood I wanted to be a cricketer and literally breathed cricket and even tried to memorize The Wisden, the cricketer’s almanac! In fact, I used to shadow practice all the time even during my sleep (others used to say) but unfortunately nothing of that sort happened in my cricket dream in the long run. But,  I do shadow practice even now but that is out of fun. You can call this one of my idiosyncrasies!

Santosh:  Yes, as I mentioned earlier,   I remember having a long discussion about your passion for cricket, when you had commented on one of my pieces 'Howzatt?' in my column Morning Meanderings in Learning and Creativity.com.  

Gopal Lahiri :  Yes, I too remember that. 

I don’t know about my Achilles heel. Maybe my shyness;  as I have seen most of my friends easily get along with each other seamlessly but I can’t do that. You too, I guess, are a topper in socializing! 

Santosh , Yes, that I am - a person who just loves to talk- when I am not writing, I am talking.  When I am not talking - I am still talking - in my head . Ha ha - that is my idiosyncrasy,  you might say . 

Gopal Lahiri  : I can’t recollect any particular incident which has an indelible impression in my life. I have had many happy memories of my family, my school and the wonderful teachers there. I used to be a regular first-boy and all my teachers looked after me. May be, I was a bit pampered also but the calm influence of my family and teachers didn’t allow me to fly high! (Smile)

Santosh:  Q 2 You wear many hats with aplomb. Poet- translator- critic, with 21 published books and what not- how do you manage all this, and how do you meet deadlines – do you ever get frustrated and forget to smile?

Gopal Lahiri : All these things come naturally to me and I am happy with multitasking as well. Poetry is my passion. Sometimes I feel frustrated, not because of meeting the deadlines but the inability to write to my satisfaction.

Santosh:  Q 3 Poetry has been defined differently by different people. What is poetry for you? Is lyricism and the inherent musicality of a poem important for you? How did a geologist find the poet hidden inside and how did he react to this serendipitous discovery ?

Gopal Lahiri : Poetry isn’t scary, especially if you have the words. There is no denying that poetry is one of the most powerful instruments for our survival. It is one mode of transport one takes on the long path through unknowing. Poems are not really written; they just happen as a reward of listening to the inside and the outside surroundings. The sensory images that arrive and stay when we are open to the world around us. I get my poetry from a moment in time. That moment when finally, instead of being asked to heal and forgive, we are allowed the vengeance, the rage that is rightfully ours, well beyond lyricism and the inherent musicality.

          This is a common perception. Geology is unlike physical science, not         governed by the rigid formula or equation. There is so much uncertainty in nature and we are yet to capture all the nuances. Imagination comes into play a lot and you have to be flexible in mind. In the oil industry we have worked on various scenarios to firm up any strategy or plan.

          So it’s a different ball game and I think poetry sometimes acts as a catalyst.

Being a geologist, I really indulge in digging unexplored areas and bringing out something new which can be seamlessly integrated into poetry also. There is no conflict as such between poetry  and geology.
Santosh : Q 4 Well , that is very intriguing to know .

You are a bilingual poet –writing in English and Bengali with commendable ease. Kindly tell us,  in which language do you feel more comfortable writing?

Gopal: Honestly, I am comfortable writing in both the languages, English and Bengali. In recent times, I write much less in Bengali, not due to any bias but for the desire to write for my new readers in English. Yes, sometimes it becomes a hard task but I choose the particular language, if I feel comfortable in expressing my feelings and do justice to the theme of my writing, be it prose or poetry.

Santosh: Q 5 We are almost living in a dystopian world – what is your prognosis for this skewed world – and can you suggest an antidote, if any. 

Gopal: It’s true that the world we live in is really skewed. The reason may be manifold: Money, Greed, Hatred, intolerance and so many other things.

I do not have any ready-made antidote. I think we should connect with each other, love each other, tolerate each other more. One thing is sure, we can’t sit idle and say, ‘History will take care of it’. Everyone has to come out of his/her shell and spread the message of harmony and peace.

Santosh : Well,  that is indeed very important,  I too strongly believe that copious doses of love and compassion are the only antidote to this rampant hatred. Let us join hands and spread this message of peace and harmony - and we shall definitely overcome.
Thanks a ton Gopal Lahiri for honouring us with your presence here in FIVE QUESTIONS .
I indeed had a great time interacting with you. Thanks again.

Bio of Gopal Lahiri : 

Born and brought up in Kolkata, Gopal Lahiri has done his post-graduation in Geology from Presidency College, Kolkata and travelled across India and abroad in view of his job assignments. He has worked as a geologist for more than thirty-five years in a Government Oil Company (ONGC) of India and elevated to General Manager of the company and finally to Sub-surface manager of one of the prolific producing assets in Mumbai High Offshore.

He has widely travelled in India and abroad attending various conferences of SPE, SEG, AAPG and workshops. He was nominated technical session judges in prestigious AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologist) conference in Vienna and Bali. He currently lives in Kolkata. His long association with Schlumberger in a Joint Research Centre, located in New Delhi has honed his skill and expertise in well logging, reservoir modelling and development geology. He has written fifteen technical papers published in international and national journals.

His passion for literature started from his childhood and he has contributed all along to literary spaces as well. He is a bilingual poet, writer, editor, critic and translator, widely published in Bengali and English language with eight collections of poems in Bengali and nine collections of poems in English. He has jointly edited two collections of poems and two translation works.

His English collections can be  available in Amazon/Lulu publications also,

He is also an experienced book reviewer both in English and Bengali and is currently in the panel of reviewers of Indian Literature of Sahitya Akademi, (Print journal), Muse India and Setu online journals. 

 He can be reached at gopallahiri.blogspot.com.