A Small Stretch of Poetry


When I think of this small stretch of land, I am reminded of the poets of the Lake districts of the Nineteenth century England, where poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge resided. By a strange coincidence this small stretch spans Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Punjab Mata (Shaheed Bhagat Singh's Mother) Nagar. Not exactly at a stone's throw from each other but definitely at a distance of two-minute drive from the one point to the other. To me this is indeed a small stretch of poetry.
In Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar reside Gurbhajan Gill and Ravinder Bhathal, both of them the well-known Punjabi poets. Gurbhajan Gill is a prolific writer and has published half a dozen collections of poems and ghazals. He is steeped in Punjabi folklore and uses folk motifs in his poetic creations. But, at the same time, he is conscious of the fast-changing patterns of human existence. Dr. Jaspal Singh is of the view that "Gill's poetry is one of commitment to social revolution which alone can bring about qualitative change in life." In his early poetry, he sings of the past glory of this land of five rivers. He wants to restore its splendid image so that he could hold his head high. With the passage of time, he has steered clear of certain misconceptions and has identified the disruptive forces. In his latest collection of poems, Agan Katha, he pleads for peace and tranquillity but not at the cost of self-respect -
Still
we have to fight
against the inane cacophony
under whose canopy
we lay down our lives
to augment the number of martyrs.
No more
shall we serve ourselves as fodder
for the cruel jaws of time.
Ravinder Bhathal's prose-poems are reminiscent of the poems of Pablo Naruda in their intensity of thought and naturalness of expression. He never makes any attempt to mince his words when he transcends the reality of situation and grasps the truth of
existence. His poetic diction follows the course of rarefied thoughts. In his poem Vartmaan plaan di dastaan, he says -
I contemplate sometimes
to take the shape of a
high dome
or get down deep in
the bowels of the earth
in the form of a time-capsule. . Nothing historical have I done
but I want to be associated
with an ordinary historical event.
In the days gone by
my strides were bold and brisk
but they could not take
the form of a raging storm.
Now I realise
what sort of a garland
of compromises
I am wearing around my neck.
On the other side of Pakhowal Road, Kulwant Jagraon and Chaman Lai Sukhi live in Shaheed Karnail Singh Nagar. Kulwant Jagraon is sincere, both as a person and a poet. He has lived through a period of strict poetic discipline that has been helpful in the maturity of his muse. In his poems and ghazals, he depicts the varying moods of love. The lyrical element in his poetic creations sets him apart from his contemporaries. Prof. Mohan Singh was full of praise for passionate lyricism in his poetic creations and he wrote about it in a personal letter to the poet. His dulcet voice and iridescent expression combine their irresistible charms to make the audience spellbound. In his lyrical poem, Benam Rishte, he says -
What name should I
assign to our relationship ?
It has no name
nor can any word indicate it.
No syllable, no synonym, no sign
signifies our relationship.
It is the feeling
that defies expression
It is the fragrance
that emanates from flower
It is the cadence
that regulates our breathing.
The bilingual poet Chaman Lai Sukhi is creating ripples in the streams of Punjabi and Urdu poetic literatures. He has been nurtured in the classical tradition of the pre-partition days. In Lahore he started composing ghazals in Punjabi under the guidance of the master-poet Barkat Ram Yuman. Later, when he shifted to Shimla after Independence, he came into contact with the famous Urdu poet (the late) Ganga Dhar Tasneem in whose company he scaled new heights. At long last when he settled in Ludhiana, after his retirement from the Punjab Education Department, he subdued his cravings for Urdu Ghazal and emerged as a venerable Punjabi poet. He is a man of few words but in his ghazals he is forthright in the expression of his thoughts and feelings -
The times have ill-treated
me to such an extent
that I feel frightened
at the slightest move.
Every man is a prisoner
of his loneliness.
Truth escapes unchecked
through my lips as
I haven't learnt
the art of flattery.
Next comes in focus at the other end of this small stretch of poetry, two poets Sardar Panchhi and Mohinderdeep Grewal, who have their abodes in Punjab Mata Nagar. Sardar Panchhi had migrated from Rae Barely during the holocaust of November 1984. In Ludhiana he settled down more for the charm of its literary ambience than the prospects of any material gain. Ever since he is tight monetarily but in the field of Urdu ghazal he has taken big strides -
At what place
life has abandoned me
An utter stranger
I am even to myself.
My heart's blood
will trickle down all night
Soaked in its hue
the sun will rise in the morning.
Let's exchange our joys
with the pangs of others
Let the glow of the lamp
envelop the whole universe.
Mohinderdeep Grewal has held aloft the banner of poetry on this stretch at Pakhowal Road. In the field of Punjabi ghazal, he has tew peers in this city. He is very conscious in the choice of words and phrases. Still his obsession with diction does not hinder the flight of his imagination. The subtlety of thoughts and the spontaneity of expression are the hallmarks of his poetry. Lately he has taken recourse to Khulhi Kavita as, like Mirza Ghalib, he perhaps finds the strait-jacket form of ghazal too restrictive for soaring on the wings of imagination. The memories of his childhood haunt him and he recounts them romantically, artistically and nostalgically. In Sleep, I and She, he says -
I implored her to rise up
but she turned to the other side
saying - 'my dream is with me.'
When she awoke at last
I was in deep slumber.
She prompted me to get up
but I told her not to disturb
as someone was ensconced
in the cradle of my eyelids.
But when I shed my sleepiness
she was fast asleep again. O