“Ki Tamasa Ki Cherry” (Cherry blossom festival), a poem in Khasi language on the beauty of the cherry blossom season in Shillong city resounded out in a hall in Delhi with an audience of poets and literatures gathered from across the country.
The writer of the poem, Rangkitbok C Dohkrut, one of the upcoming poets of the state told Highland Post how thrilled and honoured he was to have been given the privilege to stand there and read out his poems on March 11 at the function called ‘Tasty Sound: Poetry Readings by North East and Southern Poets’ at Kaveri Sabhagar.
This was part of the Sahitya Akademi’s Festival of Letters, 2025 held between March 7 to 12, at the Rabindra Bhavan Complex, Delhi and posted as Asia’s largest literature festival.
Organised by Sahitya Akademi, the event, chaired by N. Kiran Kumar Singh, brought together an impressive lineup of poets representing the diverse linguistic and cultural landscape of India.
One of the highlights of the session was Dohkrut, who read his evocative Khasi poem “Ki Tamasa Ki Cherry” along with its translated English version. His reading provided a glimpse into the rich cultural and poetic heritage of the North East.
In addition, Dohkrut shared several pieces from his diverse poetry collection. These included poignant Haikus, a unique form of Japanese poetry, as well as his thought-provoking English poems “I Gather”, “The Maniac Called Drugs”, and “Today I Stand”, each of which explored deep personal and societal themes.
The session featured poetry readings in multiple languages, highlighting the rich traditions of regional literature. Other poets who read out their offerings included Siddhartha Sankar Kalita (Assamese), T.K. Santhosh Kumar (Malayalam), Thiru Prasad Nepal (Nepali), Mandarapu Hymavathi (Telugu) and Akshara Raj Perla (Tulu).
The session was a beautiful blend of traditional and contemporary forms of poetry, resonating with the diverse audiences gathered at the festival. The Festival of Letters 2025 continues to be a platform for showcasing literary diversity, and Dohkrut’s performance added to the celebration of India’s rich linguistic and cultural tapestry.
