To
be rooted in the soil is one thing and to attain an imposing height, where winds
from all sides waft around, is another. In this manner the aroma of creativity
is mingled with the fragrance of interaction. One is brimful with ideas when one
embarks upon the journey towards new shores, but on return one feels laden with
singular experiences of human existence. At that time, the whole world appears
to be a global village. The unifying factor is the human nature that acts like a
prism.Surjit Patar is a poet of the global village and not merely a Punjabi poet. Hardly a week ago, he returned from his visit to Australia where his admirers had invited him. In the exotic surroundings, he rediscovered himself and viewed life from different perspectives. The admirers in Australia were nostalgic about their motherland and found in Patar's poetry an echo of their own hopes and aspirations. His visit infused them with a new resolve while the poet found his sensibilities heightened.
In December last, he went to China on a two-week visit with Indian writers delegation sponsored by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. There he dreamt of the philosopher Confucius whose sobbings could still be heard in the winds that blow in that land. He found that country to be culturally confused and the people groping in the darkness of misery. The eight-fold path the Buddha propagated is still for them will-o?the-wisp. He realised that people in China love Tagore when an interpreter Ms Wang quoted some lines from his poems. In return Patar composed a poem "The Wang Goddess."
His visit to Columbia in June 1999 also has a special place in Patar's mind. He had gone there to attend International Poetry Festival in which he had participated as the sole representative from India. While recalling his visit,he told that 50 poets from different countries had come there to sing together of the glory that is associated with human life in general. There were seven venues in the city and in each of them seven poets participated. The venues were changed on the subsequent days. It was amazing and unbelievable to see the auditorium packed to capacity and a hundred persons waiting outside. 87
Many a time the poet after reciting his poems in the hall would come out to face the eagerly waiting persons on the road. The poems were read in English and then translated into Spanish by the interpreters. The people there listened to the poets as rapturously as we do when the singers regale us with folk songs. On the concluding day, the poets reached the venue late by one hour due to heavy rain. But the audience was already there, with wine and beer bottles tucked in their long coats. Those who could not get inside had positioned themselves in the open under umbrellas.
Lyricism is the hallmark of Surjit Patar's poetic creations, be they ghazals, nazms or geets. He thinks with his whole being, while every fibre is attuned to the symphony that emanates from the interplay of emotions. For him it is not the word that matters but its tone and tenor that imparts it with unique identity. In his hands, words become pliable and the overall effect is that of ecstatic feelings, subliminal undertones and the Keatsian "teasing us out of thought as doth eternity." He loves words for their sounds but their meanings he understands in the stillness of his mind.
Nature for him is the mirror in which he sees his emotions reflected. He avers that to be in tune with nature is the ultimate attainment of the human mind. Trees remind the poet of the goodness of the earth, the outward rnanifestation of truth in this universe. Unlike Torn Dutt'stasaurina Tree', he is not in a hurry to christen the tree of his choice.
The very presence of a tree is soul-stirring for him and its sight transports him out of himself to 'the realm of gold'. Nature makes him oblivious of the demands of human nature and he finds the social impositions as impediments to the marriage of true minds.
In his latest collections of poems, 'Lafzan di Dargah' (The shrine of words), Surjit Patar is in search of his true self. He is face to face with a being who is so very intimate with him but at the same time is assertive like a stranger. In his poetic creations, the intimate in him is trying to come to terms with the stranger in him. He is engaged in the process of striking a balance between the demands of his body and those of his soul. There is no conflict
to be resolved but the effort for the assimilation of one with the
other has to be made. In a ghazal he says-
Jism de ret te ik lafz hai likhiya hoya
Paun de rahm te ikhlaq hai tikiya hoya
Khud hi matte ne sadachaar de zaman shishe
Koi chehra najinhan vaaste ujla hoya
Bus bahaar aun di der hai kephull khirne ne
Merian badian nun patjhar ne hai dhakiya hoya.
On the sand of the body
a word has been inscribed.
The basic structure of morality
seeks the mercy of the wind.
The stained mirrors of good conduct
blur the appearance of an immaculate face.
With the advent of the spring
The flowers would bloom in full.
Now my sins have been concealed
by the autumnal leaves.
Dr. Surjit Patar was born at Pattar Kalan (Kapurthala) in 1945. He received his education at Govt Randhir College (now NJSA College), Kapurthala and Punjabi University, Patiala. Besides other books, his collections of poems, namely Hawa Vich Likhe Harf(l979), Birkh Arz Kare (1992), Hanere Vich Sulagdi Varn-mala (1992) and Lafzan di Dargah (1999) have been much acclaimed by the Punjabi readers. Recently his cpllected ghazals have been published under the title Patjhar di Awaaz (2004). He is perhaps the most travelled, in the western countries, poet in the Punjabi world.
He retired in April 2004 from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana as Professor in the Centre for Mass Communication, Languages and Culture. At present he is President of Punjabi Sahit Academy, Ludhiana.