Tapan Kumar Pradhan

Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan (born 22 October 1972) is an Indian poet, writer, translator, researcher, activist and administrator. He is best known for his poem collection “Kalahandi” which won Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award. He founded Poetry Chain journal and website with Gopi Kottoor. His poetry has been included in the English literature syllabus of several colleges and universities.

Love and relationship

 * Nothing is more painful in this world than love unrequited. But can true love remain unrequited? Whatever you give, it comes back to you a hundred fold, nay a thousand fold.


 * All the moments in which you do not love, are wasted moments of life which will never come back. Our call is to love. There is no meaning in life without love.


 * Mushrooms sprout overnight and die, but banyan tree takes years to take root. True love is like a banyan tree - last to sprout, last to die.


 * They say he is the luckiest man, who has in his heart two women. Nobody can be unluckier than me, I am always in love with two women.


 * Just in case you find this world too much a burden for you, you can always my dear find the path, always come back to me.


 * I am not afraid of you, my friend, I am afraid of your ghost. After death you may stalk my books, my epitaphs, my biographies.

Religion and philosophy

 * Truth is naked. Truth was, is, and will ever be. But we humans like to wear masks.


 * To perceive pure love that is God, you have to unmask your heart, unmask your soul, unmask the purity of your being.


 * God knows the thoughts of all human beings even before they are released from their tongues. One who tunes into God knows all the thoughts welling up in all human hearts.

Human rights

 * Although drought is a natural disaster, starvation deaths are an avoidable man-made disaster.


 * When death will spread all over the land, then alone will the living dead understand.


 * Recovering principal with tenfold interest, Kalahandi will then take her revenge against her betrayer.


 * Performance appraisal report (PAR) is the appraisal committee's ‘impersonal’ evaluation of the ‘public’ service rendered by ‘public’ servants in their ‘impersonal’ capacity in a ‘public’ organisation; hence there is nothing "personal" about PAR.

Society and politics

 * Whenever you start digging into history, history is re-written all over again. The more you dig, the more you gain, and the more you lose faith from history.


 * History has always changed its course, changed its stance, swaying to the tunes, pendulum like, between a Ruling Party and an Opposition Party.


 * Pokhran was born. Pokhran was dead. In less than a millionth of a second. Hymen of secrecy was breached for ever. Infant had become a Big Boy, at once shy and bold, with the suddenly acquired carnal knowledge of creation and annihilation. Then the Buddha smiled.

Hemangi Sharma Fraud Case

 * Lalitha Iyer is none other than Hemangi Sharma in disguise.

Quotes on Pradhan

 * Usha Thorat :- Dr Pradhan makes ingenious use of Right to Information to address individual grievances of people.