"Ekti Moroger Kahini" (The Tale of a Rooster) is a twenty-seven-line poem written by Sukanta Bhattacharya, published in June 1947 in the poetry anthology book Chharpatra. It is regarded as one of his most popular poems. In the poem, Bhattacharya describes a rooster and makes it the symbol of all poor people. The rooster dreams of entering the palace of a rich person. By the last lines of the poem, the rooster enters the palace but realizes it was going to be eaten instead of being fed.
Reception
According to Priyanka Chowdhury of The Statesman, Bhattacharya in the poem described the story of a chicken who desired to eat good but ended up on the dining table of a rich person, itself becoming food. He frequently wrote about the middle class, the laborers, the soldiers, the enemies and the farmers, of which some are described in the poem "Ekti Moroger Kahini".
In the periodical Bhorer Kagoj, it is written that there are symbols in Bhattacharya's poems, of which were able to resonate voices and raise emotions in the minds of the readers through his poems. It is written that with the use of subtle metaphors and symbols, he highlighted class discrimination, relationship between the weak, poor and oppressed people and the exploiters, oppressors and powerful people. It is written that Bhattacharya's poems like "Sindi", "Cigarette", "Deshlai Kathi", "[Ekti] Moroger Kahini", he is a poet who protests against the widely prevalent social inequality.
Chiranjan Sarkar of The Daily Ittefaq said that he felt quite sad listening to the fate of the rooster in "Ekti Moroger Kahini" when he was a child. He writes that there was no room to think about anything except its right to life. He said that the rooster in the story is not only a rooster, but a symbol of many things, also serving as a representation of a small part of society. Regarding the poem, Sarkar writes that in the poor and dilapidated part of the world with the unfair social system, the right to life becomes the main thing. But in the case of developed and rich regions, it took a long to appreciate and recognize when the story of a rooster can surpass the right to life and become its symbol.
Journalist Syed Taufiq Zuhori wrote that in the poem, the autobiography of a rooster is described in a simple and allegorical style. He comments that the poem reveals the inhumane behavior of people, the cries of the starving and the pursuit of food to satisfy hunger. Zuhori remarked that the rich people have adequate money, dressing, and shelter, but the life of the poor, impoverished and starving people are like a symbolic rooster. He writes that in every line of the poem the sighs of the rooster and the needy people is prevalent. The rooster used to make a living off the leftovers of the affluential people, however, with the arrival of the ragged people, the right to that path is also broken. The rooster hopes to be free from its inhuman life, going towards the palace of the rich. The rooster becomes the food itself. Zuhori remarked that the death of the rooster signifies the fate of the people itself, and said that Sukanta Bhattacharya's "Ekti Moroger Kahini" expresses the lives of the poor, hungry and deprived people.
Jagannath Chakravorty in his biography book Sukanta Bhatacharya expressed that the poem was based on Bhattacharya's technique of symbolism, featuring a poem of quiet drama, surprise, and anti-climax. Journalist Aditi Samanta said that in "Ekti Moroger Kahini" ("Story of a Rooster"), Bhattacharya creates allegories to criticize structures of power and sacrifice. Samanta further writes that the story is, a rooster gets a place in a huge mansion amidst discarded packing boxes, and looks at the spread of food, but later it becomes part of the food to be eaten.
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References