All’s inspiring for a poem...we lend an ear to Amarjit Chandan

PARUL

The Sunday Newsline. Chandigarh. December 27 2009

Chandan reading at Museum of Art. Chandigarh.

26 December 2009. Photo by Kuldip Soni

WORDS without any confinement of space, time, religion, relationships...come together to create poetry that’s free, flowing, spirited, spontaneous and filled with feelings. From God to tomato, Amarjit Chandan’s sphere of inspiration is endless, his thoughts limitless and his verses undefined, yet attached to emotions, not only his own, but everyone’s. The world’s not enough for this Punjabi poet, who lives away from his land and people, yet has not let geographical boundaries come between him and his roots.

I am the seed of that root,

Roots remind me of my woman,

Roots remind me of raised hands,

Roots are the source of everything.

Chandan stays connected, effortlessly, as his imagery is intimate, for in his verses he weaves your story— captures your thoughts, expresses your dreams, reintroduces you to your memories and evokes emotions which are an integral part of your life, times and being.

The moment lives in Chandan’s poetry and so it’s a constant journey, one he undertakes all alone, with images being his constant companions, with which he forms deep relationships and evokes the same sentiments in his readers. Moments become memories and nostalgia takes over. .

Reading from Sonata for Four Hands at the Government Art Museum today, Chandan’s lines weave magic and nostalgia. The compilation of his poems, many of which have been translated into English are soulful and real. God, tomato, garlic, paper, the holy book, parents, love, father, memories – each thought is transformed into a verse and is bound by an emotion, relationship.

Author of three books of prose, it’s a world view that’s reflected in his poetry, “he’s ahead of his times, a progressive poet, his diction has always been elitist and Sonata for Four Hands is a fine illustration of the fact that Chandan is never scared of reinventing himself,” friend and poet Nirupama Dutt pays a compliment. His love for Punjabi language grows and even though Chandan’s been away from his motherland, he “never left.”

To Father

As you taught me to write the first letter

of Gurmukhi –  the Punjabi script

holding my nervous hand in yours

You taught me to hold the camera

to focus on faces in the pupil of the eye

and to press the button holding my breath As if it were a gun

loaded with bullets of life.

 Where are you now father?

Can you take some time off from death?

I would like to take myself-portrait

          sitting next to you with a glint in my eyes.

 Remember that photograph you took

         with the self-timer of us together many years ago

You holding me cheek to cheek?

The photograph does not show the lump in your throat.

We will exchange pictures I have taken

                            of faces you have not seen

and of places you never visited

and you can show me yours taken in the valley of the dead.

Amarjit Chandan's long-awaited first full-length collection in bi-lingual text – Punjabi and English –  Sonata for Four Hands published in Britain comes with a preface by the distinguished writer John Berger, long-time admirer of Chandan's work. Ironic, lyrical, sometimes angry or regretful, these poems, written in Punjabi but by a poet settled in Britain, add a new dimension to contemporary British poetry.

ISBN: 978-1-906570-34-7
978-1-906570-35-4

 

Likhtam Parhtam. Essays in Punjabi by Amarjit Chandan
Kitab Trinjan Lahore. 2010
Dimensions: 137 x 215 mm. Pages 88. Rs 100/-
Cover by Shahid Mirza
ISBN 978 969 9141 01 0
kitab-trinjan@gmail.com

     

Paintee. ਪੈਂਤੀ. 35 Selected poems + CD. Text and Read by Amarjit Chandan

Anād Foundation. New Delhi. 2010

Collector’s item. Designed by Gurvinder Singh

Dimensions: 124 x 124 mm. Pages 96. Rs 1500/-

anad@anad.in

www.anadfoundation.com

Potli. ਪੋਟਲ਼ੀ. Selected Essays in Punjabi by Amarjit Chandan

Lokgeet. Chandigarh. 2009

Cover by Prem Singh

Dimensions: 167 x 210 mm. Pages 108. Rs 150/-

ISBN 978 817 1429 615

pcis@rediffmail.com