Journalist Pramod Thomas focuses
on the everyday moments of life, as well as the tragedies that afflict society
in his book of poems
By Shevlin Sebastian
Pramod Thomas was my former
colleague in The New Indian Express, Kochi. He was and remains an ace business
journalist. Today, he works for an UK-based media group.
But what nobody will realise
when you meet him, with his focused, professional attitude, is that he is a
sensitive poet. At spare moments, which I am sure, is rare since he has a wife
and two daughters, Pramod writes poems. This is his way of battling stress and
the lack of meaning in life that afflicts everybody now and then.
In 2017, he published his first
book of poetry, ‘A Shoe Named Revolution’. Now, he has published his second
book, ‘Biography of a Couch Potato’. It comes as no surprise that he has
dedicated it to his two daughters, Ayaana and Ahaana.
It is also dedicated to ‘those
who find comfort in the quiet moments and beauty in the ordinary; To the ones
who see poetry in everyday life — in the sunrise, the rain, a stranger’s smile
or a fleeting thought. May these poems be a companion on your journey, offering
solace, reflection, and a sense of belonging.’
When you realise how conflict
(Ukraine/Gaza/Lebanon) has been dominating the news for over two years, the
first poem, ‘Eulogy of the Unborn’, is about war:
‘Do not stare at me, for I am
dead
Don’t cry for me,
Cry for my child, unborn.
Her eyes shattered
In the rubble,
Only I can see a rainbow,
A colourless one though.’
The book comprises 21
poems.
One poem, ‘Blood Butterfly’,
draws inspiration from a 13-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu who tragically lost her
life during Cyclone Gaja. Her family forced her to stay alone in a barn because
she was having her periods.
Here is the concluding
verse:
‘While trying to please
gods,
We become less human.
Forgive us,
In the name of a zillion
unborn.
Now, we have blood on our
hands.’
Pramod dedicated another poem,
‘Echoes of a Lost Spring’, to his journalist friend, Jobin Augustine, 28, who
passed away in May, 2012. A sub-editor with the Madhyamam Daily newspaper in
Kochi, Jobin fell from a private bus, got crushed under its wheels, and died.
He was on his way to his home at Ramapuram.
The poem, ‘A Poetic Flower’ is
dedicated to the Kerala poet, A Ayyappan. Pramod is a fan of his work. Ayyappan
was found unconscious on October 21, 2010, in front of a theatre in
Thiruvananthapuram.
The local people informed the
police, who took the poet to the government hospital. Nobody, including the
police, had recognised him. A bachelor, Ayyappan was 61 when he died. People
knew him as the ‘Icon of Anarchism’ of Malayalam poetry.
Pramod writes:
‘The street was not deserted
There were a few people,
But none recognised the
poet;
They mistook him for a
drunkard,
Considering him a bad
omen.’
Pramod concludes the poem by
saying:
‘In a city far away, many
awaited the poet,
Eager to honour him for his
poems,
An event was ready to welcome
him,
Ears eager to listen to his
verses,
But life had other plans.’
‘The City of Sins’ focuses on
the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical
College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9, 2024.
‘Kolkata, hang your head in
shame,
Retreat to your ugly thoughts,
and end yourself.
How can you raise your head
now?
There is blood on your
hands,
Your dark streets can never be
the same again.’
At the end of the poem, Pramod
states: ‘Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India — an
average of nearly 90 rapes a day was reported in 2022 across the country.’
In the title poem, ‘Biography of
a Couch Potato’, Pramod says:
‘There is no endgame in this
dull drama,
You live the same life every
day, year after year.
When you’re glued to the
screen,
Your comfort zone embraces you,
And there’s no going
back.’
However, the book is not all
gloom and doom.
Pramod writes about love
too.
‘There is no boundary to my love
for you;
I am connected to you,
Like a train to its track,
A thunder to the cloud.
And a chalk to the
blackboard.
You are the last drop of my
rain,
The final drop in my blood bank,
The last atom in my body,
The last prisoner in the world’s
last prison.’
One gets the feeling his wife
Stephena is going to be moved to read this.
Other poems include dealing with
the suffering of a writer who has received rejection, the birth of a child to a
gay couple, which is overseen by a lesbian nurse, American Vice President Kamala
Harris, wokeism, the Wayanad landslide tragedy, a Filipino woman who donned a
mermaid suit and performed in a large aquarium at Kochi, and the biography of a
stone.
The poems reveal Pramod’s
sensitivity to human suffering and emotional pain. He writes from his heart.
And so it affects us who read these poems. It makes us pause in our hectic
daily life and activates the sensitive aspects of our being. In short, these
poems humanise us.
‘Couch Potato’ is nominated for the 21st Century Emily Dickinson Award.
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