Ekantot Bonphul by Dr. Maitrayee Patar

Dr. Maitrayee Patar (07.04.1990) is a Tiwa woman hailing from Assam. Maitrayee completed her graduation from Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi and her Masters from the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics. She was then awarded with the prestigious UGC-JRF national scholarship and completed her M.Phil research in Women's Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. A first generation Masters from her clan/village, Maitrayee recently earned her PhD degree from the Department of Sociology, Tezpur University. Outside of academics, Maitrayee is a well-recognised poet, singer and songwriter in Assam. Her poems, mostly written in Assamese, English and sometimes in Tiwa, subtly document the complications and overlapping histories of her roots, and yet, carry the innate sensibilities of nature which she refers to as her true origin. The first anthology of her poems, Mur Kolmou Dinor Xunali Baat was published in 2015 by Banphool Prakashan, Assam. Her second book of poetry Dingit Goja Pani Mongoh was published in 2020 by one of the prestigious publication houses of the state, Aank Baak. Her third anthology ‘Ekantot Bonphul’ is setting the trend and has been published by Xako Publication, the newest trailblazer from the region in publishing and translation. Maitrayee has been invited to read her original poetry in multiple events organized by Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters) in various parts of the country, including both editions of the coveted International Literature Festival recently held in Shimla and Bhopal (June 2022 and August 2023), 'Yuva Sahiti' and 'Mulakaat' for young writers of the country, North Eastern and Southern Writers Meet held in Vijayawada, Telengana, Indigenous Writers Meet held in Tezpur University, Assam, and so on. Maitrayee has represented Assam as an invited poet in national lit-art festivals like ‘Sahitya Aaj Tak’ by India Today group held at New Delhi, Kolkata Poetry Confluence by Antonym Group for Global Literature held at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. She was one of the two Indian poets invited to participate in the ‘Poets Translating Poets’ 2019 (January) edition, the prestigious cultural exchange residency workshop of literature of German and Indian languages, hosted by Goethe Institute, Mumbai and Germany in Shillong, India. Maitrayee is also a regular poet in popular Bangla journals like 'Krittibas' (founded and edited by Sunil Kr. Gangopadhyay), Bhasha Nogor (edited by Subodh Sarkar), Yapanchitra, Guhalipi and so on. Apart from English, Bangla and Hindi, her poems have been translated to German, Spanish, Nepali and Tiwa. On the music front, Maitrayee is a trained vocalist in Indian music and is a multi-genre artist. Her discography ranges from pure folk to folk fusions to semi-classical songs/ghazals to progressive new age music. She has many popular Assamese numbers to her name and has been performing across the state and the country since a while. In 2025, she along with her band delivered a widely appreciated musical performance at the prestigious World Book Fair, New Delhi showcasing the rich folk traditions of the northeast. She is a co-founder of 'Project Baartalaap', a popular YouTube channel for Assamese new age music, the debut album of which was hugely appreciated by music lovers across the state and also found her a place in the prestigious magazine Rolling Stone India in 2020. She is the lyricist of the trendsetting Assamese EDM Track Alakananda which went on to be the first Assamese song to hit one million streams on Spotify. Moupiya, Tair Kotha, Phagunore Ba, Lahoi Lalungoni are some of her many popular Assamese numbers. Maitrayee is a recipient of multiple awards, including Biju Phukan Recognition Award for outstanding contribution to music, first Niru Sharma Parajuli Memorial Literary Award for bridging art and literature and Mirchi Excellency Award for excellence in voice of change through art and activism.