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June 27 Back to the blog after a prolonged silence...It feels very strange that my last blog entry should have been on the Adivasi Academy in Tejgadh and another on some memories of Arun Kolatkar. My life took a remarkable after my return from Tejgadh and Baroda. Little did I know that I would be soon in the throes of a mental illness characterized by extreme mood swings over which the victim loses control. This dreaded disease is known as manic-depressive or bipolar disorder. After Tejgadh, I had three more public engagements, in that order, to receive the GANGADHAR MEMORIAL NATIONAL AWARD FOR POETRY instituted by the University of Sambalpur in Orissa. The award was to be given in Sambalpur on January 4, 2006. Viju and I have always dreamed about visiting our friend, the poet Jatyanta Mahapatra and his wife in Cuttack, then visiting Konark before it crumbles into the sands where it stands on the coastline of Orissa. But my deepening depression made the idea of such a journey immensely difficult to me. In the event, we pushed ourselves into this trip fraught with many uncertainties about my condition. We were very lucky to have been the guests of the Telegu poet Jayaprabha and her husband Soorya in Hyderabad. They are such a warm and hospitable couple. Viju was meeting Jaya/Prabha for the first time and they got along well. We left Pune on December 31, were in Hyderabad till January 2, reached Cuttack via Bhubaneshwar and stayed with Runu and Jayanta. On January 3, we reached Sambalpur, spent the night in the University Guest House. On January 4, I received my award and we returned the next day to Cuttack, visited Konark with Jayanta and finally returned home to Pune via Hyderabad. |
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