SHORT TAKES
Poetry unbound
Randeep Wadehra

A Sinner Says
by Sanjiv Bhatla.
Crabwise Press.
Pages 71. Rs 150.

I have felt the spherical/Symmetry of the universe./And in it trapped my soul. (In this book)

Whenever something unusual, let alone unique or path-breaking, happens it takes time to be understood and appreciated. Bhatla has gone beyond the usual maladies that the contemporary Indian poetry in English is stricken with – mundane love, relationships and quotidian existential angst. He reaches for the higher level where the gross and the carnal must sublimate into the quest for no, not Nirvana, but universal compassion. But, in the process, man has to reckon with his ego primed with instincts and emotional baggage inherited from his Neanderthal progenitor.

The poet rejects the ‘Good God’ myth. He is convinced that God has to be evil – a sadist who has designed man and his destiny in such a manner that misery predominates his life. Benign God is a fiction, says Bhatla – so necessary for perpetuating the gullible humanity’s faith in Him, who is actually up to no good.

His take on "passion-sodden man" impels one to register a riposte with Milton’s lines from Paradise Lost, "Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit /Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste/ Brought death into the World, and all our woe..." But, then, sin is a subjective term. Bhatla articulates a sinner’s anger and angst, rejecting the traditional notions of benign divinity. He would rather prefer a benign humanity.

Here is a book of verse that strives to think differently; maverick in perception and almost that of an iconoclast in its tone; "almost" because the poet does not lose faith in humanity – even though he describes compassion as a mere indulgence. Interestingly, he ends the long poem with these lines, "Two rogues share the booty/Down a Sunday corridor/It’s mockery all the way".

Skepticism reigns? Perhaps it is more a case of what Ogden Nash had said in I’m a stranger here myself: "The only people who should really sin /Are the people who can sin with a grin".

Whatever else it may be, this poem, addressed to a Bhikshu (Bhatla’s alter ego?) is not really an abject sinner’s confession, not even a desire for redemption.

Writing Love
Ed. Ashmi Ahluwalia.
Rupa.
Pages xii+100. Rs 195.

What is love – a primordial instinct for mating and procreation? Perhaps, it is much more than that, where tender feelings remain unarticulated, mere mortals deified and life’s dark hues replaced with rose-tinted vistas? Love is sublime and gross, temporal and spiritual, eternal and fleeting at the same time. It can propel one to the most elevated and magnificent worldviews or damn one to Stygian depths. It is all giving and all grabbing. It can be petty and possessive or generous and self-sacrificing. Indeed, love defies definition. However, it is also the most convenient platform for a wannabe to satisfy his/her poetic pretensions.

This volume of readable poems is divided into six parts dealing with love’s shades ranging from platonic to possessive.

Covetousness
by Jeewan Dutta.
Aravali Books International.
Pages 88. Rs 125.

In our race for materialistic gratification we often give a go-by to time-tested human values. Honesty and self-restraint take a backseat. We justify our actions by asserting that in this dog-eat-dog world it is imprudent to be humane or even show a modicum of moderation. It is at a time like this that a conscience keeper’s voice needs to be raised. It should be strong enough to be heard by those caught up in the rat race. Dutta’s volume is one such. 

In order to emphasize the dangers of covetousness he has quoted from history, especially the incident involving Chanakya and the Nanda king; he also narrates episodes from the Mahabharata. This should be of special interest to children.

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