The Forgotten Champion(2024) that has been authored by the phrasal monarch Arbind Kumar Choudhary but published by Authors Press , Delhi, brings to light not only the pyrrhic victory of Veer Lachit Borphukan all through the Saraighat war but also the gigantic poetic personality of the poet in general and the phrasal fragrance in particular in Indian English poetry. Indianness runs wild from alpha and omega of his verses that justifies his magnanimous poetic personality here, there and everywhere. The comparison of Veer Lachit Borphukan with Shivaji or Maharana Pratap or Veer Kunwar Singh on one hand and with Samson, Kingson, Emerson, Endymion and Murugan, Adigun, Mahasen, Anshuman and many others on the other speaks volumes about his intense passion for motherly love to its utmost degrees. The slogan of country first makes him the champion of the champions who like incarnatory saint kills his own maternal uncle for want of promptness prior to the Saraighat War by declaring – My country is more important than my uncle ? The rhymed and melodious quatrain, mythical and historical messiahs, phrasal junction, proverbial pigments, lyrical outburst, cultural culmination, natural iridescence and, above all, uses of various figures of speech speaks volumes of this towering personality in Indian English poetry. This rhymed quatrain is highly melodious : Borphukan is a string chicken/Who darkens the drunken/
For the hearken of the chicken/Amidst many a fear-stricken ?/(2024: 24)
Here lies a melodious quatrain that contains the junction of six idiomatic words- mortar man, Renaissance man, play the ball, not the man, right hand man, notorious man and green man and perfume the poetic passage with idiomatic intensity and phrasal fragrance to its utmost degrees.
This mortar man is a Renaissance man/Who plays the ball, not the man/
For the right hand man of Bhaskar Varman/
Amidst many a notorious man of green man?(2024:36)
The melodious passages make it the song rather than the poem while the proverbial passages bring to light the potential of his creative mentality. The poetic passage seems highly sensational that stirs emotional attachment with the motherland. Veer Lachit Borphukan is the Indian falcon who has given a befitting reply to the Mughals?
The Indian mythical messiahs who give their presence from beginning up to end of The Forgotten Champion justify the mythical monarchy of this phrasal monarch. His Hengdang has been compared with Gada of Hanuman and sword of Maharana Pratap. The major leading personalities — Bhagadatta, Shankhardev, Madhavdev, Ahom Kingdom, Borphukan, and many others perfume the poetic passage with their motivating paintings scattered here, there and everywhere.
Veer Lachit Borphukan who has been compared and contrasted with Indian rock stars –Shivaji, Maharana Pratap and Kunwar Singh on one hand and Samson, Tyson, Endymion, Emerson and many others on the other. Indianness runs wild from alpha and omega of The Forgotten Champion in which these storming proverbial statements- Titan of Hindustan, Sanatan of Hindustan, Ketan of Sanatan, Kingstan of Gulistan, Acchutan of Hindustan, Destan of Hindustan, Tristan of the Sanatan, Sultan of Hindustan and many others speak volumes about its Indianness to its utmost degrees.These western mythical messiahs —Samson, Wilson, Warison, Tyson and many others blossom along with their Indian counterparts– Arshan, Fanibhusan, Chitrasan, Dushana, Dishan, Kishan, Gulshan, Hasshan, Mrigashan, Rishan, Trishaan, Sirsasan, Vibheeshan and several others all through his poetic passages that make a bridge between the east and the west without fear or favour.