White Whispers (Selected Poems of Salabega) is an attempt to bring to limelight the hidden, unexplored richness and sophistication of a 17th century Oriya devotional poet whose intense piety coupled with the metaphoric interiority of the medium creates a unique kind of poetic art in the history of Oriya Literature. Innovative, visual and philosophic similes, tonal variations, narrative shifts, a deep sense of music and unmeditated simplicity mark the poetic genius of Salabega - who epitomizes the idea of national integration. As we move into a new and perhaps more intricate century of uncertainties, rootlessness, and a feeling of vacancy, Salabega's poetry would certainly help men and women row them across the troubled waters to the safety of the shore and enable them to breathe in bliss and dream in wonder, listening to the white whispers of love where tiger and rose, fire and water are one and the same.
Niranjan Mohanty (b. 1953), had his M.A (English) from Ravenshaw College Cuttack, and Ph.D in English from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. From 1975 to 1988 he has worked as a Lecturer in English at Aska Science College, after that he has joined the P.G. Department of English at Berhampur University. In 1999 he joined as Professor of English in the Department of English and Other Modern European Languages, Santiniketan, West Bengal. He has been writing poems in English and Oriya for the last thirty years and also translates from Oriya and Bengali into English.
He has three volumes of verse Silencing the Words (1977), Oh! This Bloody Game (1988), Prayers to Lord Jagannatha (1994) and a monograph Salabega (1996) to his credit. He has been a member of the Oriya Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi and member, Advisory Board of Editors, American Bibliographical Institute, North Carolina, USA.
Salabega is one of those gifted poets of the 17th century Orissa who moulded and refined the grand tradition of devotional poetry. Wherever you go in Orissa - from the farthest village to the aggressively prospering cities- you stand stupefied and amazed by the popularity of the songs and bhajans of Salabega. His popularity springs from his contribution to the tradition of oral poetry. Orally transmitted, these prayer songs down the centuries have manifested the devotional integrity of a poet whose birth was mysterious and startling. The irony about Salabega is that he was a Muslim, but he was one of the greatest devotees of Hindu gods. His songs excel in intensity and range with those of the pious Hindu devotional poets. Salabega's adherence to the volition poems and as a poet is surprising. The passion to sing the glory of the Lord, the willingness to spend a lifetime in composing poems and bhajans, the unalloyed devotion to have the vision of the intersection of the time with the timeless - make Salabega not only a devotional poet of considerable accomplishment but an insignia and a living force of national integration.
Historiographers and literary historians shy away from affirming the exact date and year of Salabega's birth. They assume that Salabega was born between 1607 and 1608.
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