Distinguished Indian-English writer Shiv K. Kumar has written about 40 books in all –– of poetry, short-stories, translations, literary criticism, and plays. His just-released book is a collection of poems Where Have the Dead Gone? And Other Poems’ (Authors Press, Delhi).
The very versatile writer has also ventured into the writing of fairy tales. His forthcoming book is a collection of fairy tales titled The Maidservant and The Prince . A translation into English of the Sanskrit classic Bhagavad Gita titled Thus Spake Krishna is also scheduled for release in a few weeks.
But his first love is poetry, he says. (Khushwant Singh said: “Shiv K Kumar is a gifted poet.) Why poetry, we ask. “It is unique, wonderful. Poetry uses its own language, syntax, grammar, rhythm, music, metaphor…that is what makes poetry so difficult to understand, and to appreciate. A poet is a special being. He has that transcendental ability to see the unseen or invisible, and hear the unheard. In fact, I am gradually losing my eyesight and find it difficult to see things properly. But I have never before ‘seen’ things as clearly as now!” At this point, he quotes a line from Shakespeare’s King Lear in which a character Gloucester, after he is blinded, says: ‘I stumbled when I saw…’
Shiv K Kumar also recalls the Sanskrit maxim which says the poet can see what even the sun cannot see. “A poet has a vision of the future which the ordinary man does not. A poet is also a very sensitive person. Many great poets were people who were moved by the pain and suffering they saw around them. I also have been through the trauma of Partition and have faced many crises in my life and these are reflected in some of my works. The pain of Partition is presented in my novel Train to Delhi .”
Talking of his latest book Where Have the Dead Gone , and how it happened, the recipient of many Indian and international honours, says: “A poem should be based on an intensely lived experience, so you feel a compulsive urge to write about it. This is how a poem happens. Since most of my friends and relatives have passed away, I often think about death and what comes thereafter…”
A sparrow used to perch on his windowsill every day and eat the grains he laid out for it. “But one morning, when I flung open the window, there was no bird. Only a bunch of feathers…” The sadness he felt found expression in the poem Death of a Sparrow .
He talks of his love for stray dogs and how he enjoys feeding them. He tells us he has often wondered where these homeless creatures come from, and where they sleep and how they survive without anyone to care for them. “When I hear their full-throated bark at night, I wonder where they have got this energy from. What is their source of sustenance…?” These thoughts resulted in Talking to a Street Dog .
However, there are few takers for poetry, he says ruefully. He bemoans the fact that “poetry is becoming a dying species. Do you know the Oxford University Press has more or less shut down its Poetry section? Where do you hear of people going to bookstores for a collection of poems,” he asks. “Today, most readers want novels loaded with sex and violence.”
And he reveals, though a little hesitantly, that he too made a ‘small’ compromise for this reason. He tells us that he has added a bit of both elements into his just-completed novels. He shows us the manuscripts of both these novels, ready to do the rounds of publishing houses. One is titled The Graveyard and the other The Cactus .
Shiv K. Kumar is a very prolific writer, we all know, but to be so productive even at the age of 93 is a truly remarkable thing. “Yes, people keep asking me how I manage to remain so active and zestful at my age. How do you keep so busy, they ask me. I am indeed very busy, writing books, giving talks, meeting friends….and of course, giving interviews to journalists,” he laughs. “The secret is to remain constantly active, doing something you love.”
