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