In an era of narrative galore, a new grand narrative of possession eliciting saccharine satisfaction set in motion by the market-driven post modern world has become the only possibility and not merely one of possibilities. It is the narrative of holdings and hoarding that bends the arc of contemporary life away from freedom, equality and justice. The narrative, antithetical to the values and modes of reasoning, thrives on dishing the dirt on each other can only be called into question by the poetry that erects a creative bulwark against false pretence of opulence and it still produces something that has not been dented by the competitive market.
This is what makes poetry tenable which plants us in a twilight world of profound feelings and we learn much more about barbaric and bestial ways adopted by the power that-be. These points are brilliantly articulated by an eminent Hindi critic Om Nischal in his recent book “Shabadon Se Gap Shup: Ageya Se Asth Bhuj Shukla” (Gossips with words: From Ageya to Asth Bhuj Shukla).
When we are at the verge of losing our liberal patina, Om Nischal proffers a serious debate on a number of prominent Hindi poets whose creative dexterity produces the text that can not buckle under the weight of advertising. Om Nischal’s perceptive analysis distinguishes his writing from casual drawing room gossip though it seems unacceptable for his demureness.
When the liberalised India tends to behave in a wacky way, Om Nischal focuses attention on prominent Hindi Poets Ageya, Nagarjun, Kedar Nath Agarwal, Tirlochan, Kunwar Narain, Kedar Nath Singh, Vinod Kumar Shukla, Ashok Vajpei, Leela Dhar Jaguri, Gayanendrapati, Leela Dhar Mandloi, Arun Kamal, and Asht Bhuj Shukla to acquaint us with a world where it is not every aspect of human sensitivity is included, it is that no aspect is excluded.
Highlighting the inherent potentialities of Hindi poetry, Om Nischal feels satisfied that the notion of best seller has not emerged as sacramental concept and in Hindi emphasis is still laid on producing a text that does not loses its value in one sitting.
Referring to famous Hindi poet Kunwar Narain, the author affirms that premium is being put on best seller, not the best. Here best means sensitive portrayal of human predicament in dread filled world which hardly invites instant appreciation. It is only poetry that has potentially to thwart all the attempts of the market driven economy. The freedom of choice offered by the market can not be the freedom to oppress with in. It is the poet who could say no to all the temptation and allurements by saying: "Oodles of things/I do not require at all". Kunwar Narian’s brilliant poem is reverberated in a couplet of famous Urdu poet Obaidullah Aleem who brush aside all sort of posing and preening and talks of anguish that opulence produces:
“Yeh saja sajaya ghar, mera hal nahin meeri zat nahin/Kash tum kabhi jan sako is sukh ne jo azar diya” (This well furnished house does not portray me, it is in no way connected with my personality. I wish you could ever feel the anguish of comfort.)
All that breeds resistance provides nourishment to poetry. Maudlin notion of love is not acceptable to Ageya, the celebrated Hindi poet and for Om Nischal his concept of love does not stem from the deepest anxiety and alienation. In his world, acceptance is nugatory and love stands for parting with all that constitutes one’s personality: “Jeeu Is payar mein jo maine tumne diya hai/Us dukh mein nahin jise bejijhak maine piya hai/Us gaan mein jeeyo Jo maine tumhe suniya hain/Us aah mein nahin jise maine tum se chupaya hain” (‘Live in love that I have given to you, Not in sorrow that I got intermittently, Live in moaning that I put out from your sight!’)
For him Nagarjun’s poetry is a perceptive exegesis on politics, culture and political power structure. A genuine poet does not compose a narrative of appreciation and agreement; it produces a testimony dotted with disagreement and dissent.
Delineating Kedar Nath Agarwal’s poetic concerns with remarkable thoroughness, the author makes a strong plea for reviving the legacy of Kedar at a time when the basic needs of man – water and electricity are being handed over to multinational companies. Time has come to launch people’s movement and Shamsher Bhadur, Tirlochan, Kedar Nath Agrarwal and Nagarjun deserve serious reading. Ashok Vajpeyi’s love poems are not blockbuster displays of love but they do portray a sense of alienation with more than usual vehemence and sense of promiscuity takes a big knock.
News that lacks news peg is published as new but it is nothing but advertising. It is half-truth and Leela Dhar Jaguri’s poems aptly wipe out the miasma of all half-truths and according to Om Nischal his poems are nothing but a watchtower of human consciousness.
For Arun Kamal, poetry is the last check post as capitalism no longer faces any sort of opposition. Om Nischal’s astutely written book sees the truth of the way the poets tend to see it by keeping poetic explanation and description brilliantly alive.
