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The Terrorist at my Table
Substantiated with her sketches, the poet has wisely and delicately dealt with the issues that concern us in the times we live in: freedom, terror, violence, cultural displacement, communal conflicts, gender politics, existential doubts along with various other reflective ideas that don’t go unnoticed. The first sequence of this rich collection asks crucial questions that jolts to almost elusive, shock of recognition about the stiffening process of ideologies `85 the Palestinian conflict `85 sees Gaza "like a spreading watermark" under a fine tablecloth; cry for compassionate understanding where heart is not to be missed (The Right Word); seeks connection across history in number of insightful poems in a sub-section entitled Lascar Johny; the poems in the section Remember Andalus elevate the reader to a higher state of mind and perception. The final sequence, World Wide Rickshaw, is about insecure world that has completely gone mad, "tuned to maximum," "where everything is coming apart." But by the end of the collection, the poem Halfway sees a voice learning to grow accustomed "to traveling on the fault line / of daily miracles." Imtiaz Dharker’s blazing poetry and breathing concerns has established an iconic value. On the whole, it’s an arresting collection, crafted with skill and delicate understatements. It makes a good read for the general reader as well the academic. Briefly, the collection is about the world we live in now and has something significant to offer for survival in the face of violent and challenging world. More importantly, what makes this poetic route fascinating is that it allows constant questions, avenues for tangential wanderings and lots and lots of room for thought and generate a genuine deliberation.
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Imtiaz Dharker’s
