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| Sunday, June 13, 2004 |
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| Sunday, June 13, 2004 |
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Taropey: An anthology of Punjabi verse
In all, the book contains 201 (auspicious number) six-liners in Punjabi and transcribed into Devanagari for the benefit of those who may not be able to read Gurmukhi. What is charming about self-styled poets like Kohli is that they do not have to go through long years of grind publishing in magazines, gathering acceptance, some admiration and then daring to publish a book. Even now in the Indian languages, Punjabi included, only a parvenu dares to just arrive with a book. Otherwise one first has to be known as a poet and the collection of verse may or may not follow. There have been instances when the first book of a poet like Surjit Patar came out long after people had been quoting his couplets for a couple of decades. In the case of the celebrated Punjabi poet Ustad Daman of Pakistan, a book of his verse was published by his admirers after he died. But Kohli is justified in this arriving with a book designed to be a collector’s item with the chubby poet’s picture included and he is draped, of course, in a phulkari. Well, if you have got it, then, man, flaunt it. That’s the mood of the times and more so if the cause is as noble as that of service to ma-boli or mother tongue. One often has to bear a lot of balderdash in the name of sacred causes. But not so with Kohli, whose poetry is most unpretentious. He writes just what he feels in simple metaphor that carries the tone of folk aphorisms. Talking of his land, he says: Guruan di dharati sohaneo/ Jihnu jag aakhe Punjab/ Ithhe Satluj Jehlum beas ne/ Ithhe Raavi sang Chenab/ Eh siri Sahib Dashmesh di/ Mardane di eh rabaab. The poet is at once with the reader and no intermediaries of any kind are required in this simple, if somewhat clich`E9d, emotional exchange. The sketches by T. Uppal further underline the Punjabi way of life with scenes like a farmer at work, a woman churning butter and a potter laying out rows of earthen pots. It is life and poetry at its earthy simplistic with no complexities of any kind causing hurdles. The poet would have done well to publish the verses in Roman, too, for here is a book with earthy rhythms that would do well with the average non-resident Punjabi. |
WELL-BOUND in the rich gold and white motifs of the
traditional Punjabi Bagh, the book is called Taropey or stitches.
Holding the thick volume published on fine art paper, for a moment one
thinks that here is a book exploring phulkari lore a la Hitkari.
However, it turns out to be a book of Punjabi verse penned by Aazim
Gurvinder Singh Kohli. The inspiration is, indeed, the traditional phulkari
or bagh which is a symbol of Punjabi culture. Kohli, who has
already written a book of verse in Urdu called Aaghaz
(Beginning), has made a conscious choice to write in his mother tongue
and the book is dedicated to all those who love Punjabi and Punjabiyat.