Sunday, July 23, 2017

Aatm-Sakshatkar Abhi Baki Hai… Answering the perennial questions…


 
       
These days we often hear that poetry is dying out, no one reads poetry and no one buys poetry books. The last one may be a bit true, as we hardly buy a book of poems but neither it is dying out nor it has any dearth of readers. And poets, their number is flourishing like never before. Question though there is one: how many of them write good poetry, poetry that will survive the test of time?

      Well, frankly speaking, apart from my college days I have never bought a book of poems. Last time, I had bought a collection of poems was a decade ago. It is more or less due to online availability of poems, and also because my office library, parliament library, has reach collection of books. But anyway, I never gave up reading poetry.
Recently, I bought a book, Aatm-sakshatkar Abhi Baki Hai…, after reading a poem from it on Facebook. Though Vikash Bhattacharya has been a Facebook friend for quite a long time, I didn’t know him personally.

      But I am happy not only to read his book but also to have a friend like him, who is a genius and a multi-talented person.

      I would call Aatm-Sakshatkar Abhi Baki Hai… a collection of gems. It reminded me of poems by Bhavani Prasad Mishra, the noted Hindi poet.

Vikash pours out his heart into his poems. And emotion flows like a river in the summer, cool and calm yet reminding us of its flow, its breathing and its deepness.  


     The success of these poems lies in its flow, its simplicity and simple words, and then without difficulty their ability to tell us the most complicated aspects of the life. The Poet is so fascinated with life that he keeps on questioning about several aspects of it, though at heart, he knows that these questions have never been answered. No, he doesn’t philosophize; he tells us the plain truth through his own experiences.

     What strikes me most is that many of his poems, directly or indirectly, talk about the ultimate truth of our life- death. I did ask him, why so many poems on it.   ‘Death intrigues me,’ was his reply. And it is quite visible throughout the book. But beauty of it is that he doesn’t make us sad about it. 

     Poems like Ye Reteeli Zindgi… (The Sandy Life), Shav Yatra (Funeral Procession), Mrituy (Death), Sadak Durghatna (Road accident), Samay ka Chakra (The Wheel of Time) etc talk about the grim realities of our life.

    What is more interesting is that a poem, Meri Priyatma (My Beloved), which we may take as a romantic one, and  in fact it is as long as we don’t go into the deeper meaning of it, also talks about the ultimate truth.

      It has been after quite a long time, I have read such beautiful and intriguing poems. I am more than happy to recommend this book to readers, especially poetry lovers. And I think smooth flow of these poems will take them along nicely, giving them soothing pleasures and some new perspectives to their otherwise mundane life.  

Details:
Book: Aatm Sakshatkar Abhi Baki Hai...
Poet: Vikash Bhattacharya
Publisher: Zorba Books
Genre: Poetry 
Language: Hindi
Available on: Amazon.in; Zorbabooks.com and book stores