Sunday, April 21, 2002		Books

An experimental poet who excels in blank verse
M.L. Sharma

NAI Sadi Ka Sannata is the 11th literary work by Madhav Kaushik, a well-known literary figure of Chandigarh. It is also his tenth poetical work. He has compiled these 83 poems, both in blank verse and in metre. They deal with multifarious subjects and reflect his confidence and excellence in poetry. He seems to be a firm believer in art for art’s sake and his poems are far from being didactic. He is not concerned with delivering a sermon or show a bleeding heart like Byron. His only concern is expressing himself in the lilting music of his works and moving with the currents of latest literacy trends. He has made an experiment in bridging the gulf between Urdu and Hindi poetry.

This compilation sometimes rises to supreme heights and sometimes it is down to earth. Although the poems are in Hindi but they have been composed in the tradition of Urdu poetry. It seems it is breaking the frontiers of Hindi and Urdu like Firaq Gorakhpuri’s Roop, a book of rubaiyyat (quatrains) it was written in Ganga-Jamuni language and transcends the prejudices against other languages.

The poets writing in Hindi, it seems, are so fascinated by the Urdu ghazal traditions that they have forgotten that they are Hindi poets and should follow the literary or poetic diction of Hindi poetry. This literary trend in Hindi shows that the diction used by Hindi poet is not the one used by Prasad, Pant, Nirala and Mahadevi Varma. Even the progressive trends (pragativad) of Naveen have been left. The modern poetic works in Hindi are following the trend of modernism in Urdu verse except that in Urdu there is a juxtaposition of Persian and Hindustani words. Pakistani poets of Urdu are more Hindi-oriented than even Hindi poets.

In this work we find the same trend. Some of the poems compiled in this book are superb in their diction and meaning like the ghazal on page 52 beginning with the stanza:

The ghazal on page 47 shows the angst, the anxiety, of a modern man:

The poem, written in blank verse, with the title of Birwa Tulsi Ka is composed with deep devotion to the tulsi (basil) plant and is surcharged with intimate emotions of love. The blank verse Desh is written in a patriotic vein.

The poem on page 51 shows man in bondage even at the dawn of freedom. Every country, every nation boasts of giving freedom and rights to its citizens but in actual practice every good citizen, except politicians and those at the helm of power and is in chains authority. This poem gives the real picture of a modern ‘free’ citizen.

The 28 poems written in blank verse and superior in thought to materical and rhyming verses. It seems he can express his emotions better in free verse than in other poems. This work has established him as a modern Hindi poet, writing in the Urdu tradition of modern poetry. There are a few compositions which excel in expressions and meaning. The most remarkable of them is the ghazal on page 19, the four stanzas of which are matchless;

Bachchpan ki bagiya ka koi guriya sahi salamat de.