Jayanta Mahapatra's Hunger: The Discourse Continues

This article decodes Jayanta Mahapatra’s poem ‘Hunger’ from various angle. This poem gave rise to a controversy among the students and professors when it was prescribed in the syllabus of English Literature in B. A. Final. Media also cashed the issue and published the comments of the students, educationists and intellectuals. Headlines like “Teachers feel ashamed in teaching ‘Hunger’ before the boys and girls” appeared and the environment was created against the teaching of this poem. Students along with some professors complained to the authorities of M. J. P. Rohilkhand University for omitting this poem from the syllabus. How to present the case of a father who searches for the customer for his daughter for money became a challenge for the professors in the class. The meaningful poem suffered much more from the misinterpretations by the so-called teachers and the writers of helping books than the genuine teachers who attempted to create the proper environment to make the students understand the poem from the right perspectives. It depends on teachers how seriously they teach and introduce the social reality prevalent in the Indian society to the students. Hence, the discourse continues…