At a time when the obliteration of forbearance, truth, diversity, equality and justice is looked up with reverent awe across the globe and the ascending waves of hatred and disguised religious belligerence are set to gain control over us, what can trigger an intellectually stimulating narrative of mutual understanding? It is none other than the poetry that can still produce a consciousness against animosity, dominance, falsehood, deceit and exploitation and it is the recurring theme of decently textured and nuanced poetry of Kunwar Narayan, the widely acclaimed poet of modern Hindi poetry. The importance of Kunwar Narayan, who discovers new frontier of diversity when plurality is being replaced by a cacophonous discourse of uniformity, is astutely highlighted by the eminent Hindi poet and critic Om Nishchal in his brilliantly written introduction that appears in a two-volume book on Kunwar Narayan titled as “Anway” and “Anvati”, recently published by Raj Kamal Prakashan.
The volumes, edited with a marked sense of critical acuity goes beyond the configuration of festschrift and Om Nishchal selected the focused and perceptive articles that acquaint us with the various and equally powerful layers of creative prowess of Kunwar Narayan who emerged as a literary, cultural and cerebral phenomenon of the contemporary India. Can poetry bring forth a new meaning in the melee of voices of meaningless and according to Kunwar Narayan poetry, rooted in our life and language, closely resembles with a fire bird (phoenix) that burns itself and then is born time and again from its ashes. Similarly, poetry symbolises the eternity of life. In his poem, “The need of poetry”, Kunwar evocatively argues: “Poetry can give us much more/ In that poetry can play multiple roles/ If we provide space to it in life/ The way tree embraces flowers or night greets stars”.
Moral sustenance
Another celebrated Hindi poet, Ashok Vajpeyi endorses Kunwar Narayan and for him poetry provides moral sustenance and it constructs a site of identity, self assertion, self exploration, interrogation and conscience. “Poetry remains a trinity of conscience, courage and truth. It is interminably satyagrah against uniformity and totalisation. It is a site where there are no others.”
Om Nischal
Om Nishchal in his insightful introduction, “Kavita Mein Kunwar Narayan”, makes the whole corpus of Kunar Narayan’s writing an object of a single pristine look and points out that his poetry zeroes in on the contradictions and dichotomies of life and produces a layered narrative that strikingly unravels new terrains of human predicament. His poem, “The Trial” explains how violence is perpetuated through law and how justice, punishment and exoneration become unavailing and villainous: “Those who were awarded death penalty, died long ago/ Those set free, already completed their term.” It is Kafkaesque rendering that casts a spell on the readers.
The glitz and tantalising sway of the ever expanding market that almost converted every house into a shopping site infuriates Kunwar Narayan and his piercing perception projects an alternative view of the world around him. “Market is the place where I always found/ A lingering solitariness that I cannot experience even in dense and sprawling forests/ It fills me with the delight that Socrates felt while saying, ‘I do not require these so many things’”.
Om Nishchal’s critical insight prompts him to engage Manglesh Dabral who wipes out the aura of possession and plentifulness: What will I do with innumerable footwear/ I find it difficult to keep a pair of shoes properly/ How will I handle so many rooms/ This world is a home, not a hotel and the bowl of my sleep hardly exceeds the size of a bird.”
Om Nishchal pertinently observes that only a poet can treat the most powerful signifier of our times – Market, with utter disdain. The poet is convinced that no machine or instrument can measure the pain which does not stick to reason, it has its own reason which is not visible. ECG is destined to draw a blank if it is put to use. “The machine cannot understand the language of pain/ It is made up of anguish.”
The author pointed out that the diaries of the poet are replete with such trenchant comments: “What constitutes the language of love? If we put together nearly effaced words and inaudible voices, then the language of love could emerge. Love is the greatest reality and the biggest dream”.
The editor, Om Nishchal really took pains in highlighting the multifaceted personality of Kunwar Narayan whose creative dexterity is not confined to just one literary genre – poetry. He wrote criticism, short stories and diaries with a marked sense of individuality. His writings turn attention to myriad conditions of angst, despair, hope and aspiration and his engagement with the contemporary life enables him to denounce all kinds of enslavement and inequality and he is against all that causes major upheaval across the globe.
The first volume, comprising 413 pages, carries sensitively rendered and perceptive articles of many stalwarts of Indian writings such as Sitakant Mahapatra, Harish Trivedi, Ashok Vajpeyi, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Mrinal Pande, Mudra Rakshas, Leeladhar Jagudi and many promising authors and poets, and critics Pankaj Parashar, Anamika, Rajesh Joshi, Vijay Kumar, Sanjay Roy, Pankaj Bose and Vimlesh Tripathi, etc.
The second volume, titled as ‘Anvati’, running into 516 pages, showcases the oeuvre of Kunwar Narayan with remarkable critical disposition and his seminal contribution to the Indian literature is cogently documented. A number of eminent critics and poets – Parmanand Srivastava, Leeladhar Mandloi, Vishnu Khare, Nand Kishore Naval, K. Satchidanandan, Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, Dinesh Kumar Shukla, Pankaj Chaturvedi, Vishwanath Tripathi, Rekha Sethi and the like candidly delineate the enduring relevance of Kunwar Narayan. Two volumes bear an eloquent testimony to critical alertness of Om Nishchal and he deserves accolades .
