Sunday, March 23, 2003		Books

A poet’s critique of society
S.S. Gupt

Dost! Ab Parda Girao.
by Dr Chander Trikha. Yugmarg Parkashan, Chandigarh. Pages 63. Rs 100.

CREATIVITY is the manifestation of the sensitivity of an individual who expresses himself through words, images or symbols.

Chander Trikha displays his poetic skill when he reacts to the vicious atmosphere prevailing in society: Dost! Ab Parda Girao is a collection of 17 ghazals and five poems written by the poet over a period of time. These are properly illustrated, adding to what the poet desires to express through words.

In one of his ghazals, Khoobsurat Titliyon Ke (of beautiful butterflies), he writes about the cutting off of the wings of a butterfly. The entire atmosphere is full of terror. Without naming and using the word terrorist, the poet explains that the innocent have been beheaded only to create a sense of terror. The imposition of curfew has put a question mark on all creative activities and the exchange of thoughts in get-togethers, and it seems as if we are heading towards a life full of horror. The poet says: Ratjage woh mehfilein, woh sair juye baar ke, ek curfew mujhse kaise kaise manjar le gaya."

The poet, however, is hopeful that the situation which has inflicted deep wounds on the society is sure to return to normalcy when the wounds heal. Healing is a slow process which takes a lot of time to become apparent. We have experienced trauma for years and shall ultimately come out of the shock. He writes:

He says that time is a great healer and normalcy will return slowly only with the passage of time. He uses satire when he says that those who were considered revolutionaries are no more interested in bringing about change and uprooting the legacy of old rotten traditions but have turned out to be opportunists. He explains that when he knocked at the door of a Marxist leader’s office, he learnt that the leader was away to attend some function in a big city.

According to Trikha, we are living in a state of helplessness. We are wearing masks just to pass time. We cannot boast of the fact that we are leading a life full of bliss. He expresses deep hurt over the fact that nobody is able to achieve anything by raising slogans. He feels that to live a long life is nothing but to commit suicide. The poet unveils the ground reality that to divert our attention from hunger and empty stomachs, we talked of truth and non-violence. We raised slogans, but ultimately realised that a living man daily lights his own pyre.

The poet in Trikha has lived through the era of terrorism. He recalls that in 1980, the entire Punjab was burning. Threats by terrorists had made people forget their identities as well as their cultural heritage. Nobody could perform a bhangra and he feels that even the makki di roti and a sarson ka sag is infected with fungii. He narrates:

The poet portrays how, in order to quench our thirst, we dramatise or perform the role of a joker and gesticulate meaninglessly or utter words that have no meaning. He makes an appeal to those who have lost their way to return to the mainstream and add a new dimension to the words and their meanings.

The poet talks of death by using the symbol of kali nadi or the black river, which is the outcome of a mindless act which has taken innumerable lives. He narrates:

Trikha’s poetic style is very simple. Though he has a very limited vocabulary, yet the words used lead to multidimensional meanings. The work is very powerful in imagery and he occasionally uses symbols to give depth to his words. However, Trikha does remember past glory. He remembers the renowned Hindi poet Surdas and makes an appeal to him to once again to sing the songs of tranquility and Krishna’s raas-leela which should give happiness and bliss.