Baku, Azerbaijan, April 24 (ANI) — To mark the 56th Earth Day, people from several continents joined in reciting and recording the Earth Anthem, a poem by Indian poet-diplomat Abhay K. that urges a shared sense of planetary belonging. The global tribute featured contributors from Iran, Azerbaijan, India and Madagascar, underscoring the work’s cross-cultural reach.
The poem was performed in multiple languages: Maasoomeh Navazani rendered it in Persian; Arju Alieva offered a Russian version; Dhruv Trivedi recited it in Sanskrit; and Amitabh Singh Baghel and Selcan Xanpasayeva presented it in Hindi. These diverse interpretations reinforced the anthem’s message of unity and collective stewardship of Earth.
Composed in 2008 in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Earth Anthem draws inspiration from the ancient Indian idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — the world as one family — and from the Apollo 17 ‘Blue Marble’ image that visualized Earth as a fragile, luminous sphere. Using images such as a ‘cosmic oasis’ and a ‘blue pearl,’ the poem calls attention to humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet and its biodiversity.
Over the years the piece has evolved into an artistic emblem for environmental solidarity. It was set to music in 2013 by Sapan Ghimire and recorded by Shreya Sotang, and subsequently reinterpreted by violinist Dr L. Subramaniam and vocalist Kavita Krishnamurti. The anthem has been translated into more than 160 languages, including all six official United Nations languages, and was performed at the United Nations during Earth Day’s 50th anniversary in 2020.
Abhay K. has published about a dozen poetry collections, among them Celestial, Stray Poems, Monsoon, The Magic of Madagascar and The Alphabets of Latin America. He has edited several anthologies, including The Book of Bihari Literature, The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems, Capitals, New Brazilian Poems and The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems. His work has appeared in over a hundred literary journals, such as Poetry Salzburg Review and Asia Literary Review.
His awards and recognitions include the SAARC Literary Award (2013), an invitation to record his poems at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (2018), and the KLF Poetry Book of the Year Award (2020–21) for his translations of Kalidasa’s Meghaduta and Ritusamhara. His translations of the first Magahi novel, Fool Bahadur, and of The Hanuman Chalisa, which won the Sarojini Naidu Award, have also been widely praised.
(Report sourced from ANI via a syndicated feed.)
