Cover of Collage

Jorhat, Sept. 25: Feelings and their spontaneous flow into rhymed verses are priceless. In consonance with this, a group of youth have launched Collage, a collection of Assamese poems, at a price of five paise only!

Launched on September 5 at 5.05 pm in five different places of the state simultaneously, this bimonthly 10-page booklet is a noble endeavour of the youth to popularise poetry among the masses.

“The basic aim of Collage is to popularise poetry among the masses,” said Ranjit Gogoi, a member of the group.

Edited by Ujjal Pawgam, one of the members of the group, Collage comprises the works of budding poets. The magazine’s next issue, however, will also incorporate the works of renowned poets.

Touting Collage as the “cheapest” magazine in India at present, Gogoi said, “People won’t shy away from buying the magazine by paying this token amount and anyone can afford this negligible price. This way the magazine will reach more people.”

Gogoi said everything about the magazine was unique. “One copy of Collage was released on a bus journey from Jorhat to Tezpur sharp at 5.05 pm on September 5 by Jatin Sharma, renowned litterateur of the state,” he added.

Only one copy of the magazine is sold to a person so that Collage can reach more people, he said. The group hopes to publish 6,000-7,000 copies of the next issue in November, going by the warm response to the first issue of Collage.

“We also have plans to include English poems in our future editions so that the English readership can be benefited,” said Sudipta Goswami, another member of the group.

The magazine’s finances are taken care of with advertisements from various agency houses, Goswami said. “We have not been rejected by anyone so far. The response from people, as far as advertisements are concerned, has been tremendous”.

These enterprising youth have another publication, Sabda, under their wings. Published in February 2000, Sabda is also a collection of poems, both in Assamese and English, and makes its way to subscribers in England, America and Dubai.

“Sabda is our first baby and our publication is also named after it. It has a vast area of readership. We try to encourage young talents to publish their work,” said Pervez, another member of the group.

The group has recently held a commercial show, the first of its kind in the state, where poets recited their poems.

“The tickets were priced at Rs 50 each and the programme was a hit. The auditorium was packed with people till late night,” Pervez said.

Besides, the motley group also plans to publish four volumes of love poems, scheduled to be released during the Jorhat book fair later this year.