bhubaneswar noted poet jayanta mahapatra returned padma shri as a mark of protest against growing moral asymmetry in the country in a letter to president pranab mukherjee mahapatra wrote mine is a small insignificant step but it is my personal way of showing protest to the growing asymmetry that is evident in the country i express my desire to return the awardmy act should not be considered as any kind of dishonor to the country the 88yearold poet received the civilian award in 2009 for his contribution to the field of literature it is a personal decision i thought for a long time but some incident hurt me so much and i decided to return the award every day something is coming out in the paper you cannot eat this or you cannot eat that this hurt me mahapatra told toi he further said i have nothing to do with those who returned sahitya akademi awards i did not even speak to them its a small voice from an 88yearold man and may not solve the problem he is the first one from odisha to join the growing brigade of luminaries from different fields to return their awards to the government mahapatra is one of the most prominent contemporary poets of india known for his distinct poetic style and regarded as founders of indian english poetry he has written as many as 27 books including seven in odia and rest in english jnanapitha award winner pratibha ray said writers should always express their anguish and protest through their writings returning awards is not a solution to any problem i am a rebel and want to express it in my own words