Myriad renditions

Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar," says PB Shelley. Mukul Kumar's latest poetry collection — 'Catharsis' — is a substantiation of this famous aphorism. The poet transforms the mundane sights into surreal experiences with his powerful imagination, as his poems like 'The street acrobat', and 'Beggar' illustrate so vividly. 'The street acrobat', for example, transforms a common sight into a sublime experience; the imagery is powerful, and the end strikingly subtle, leaving an intense impact upon the reader. Likewise, the usual sights of nature like the blossoms of Dahlia echo the sensibility of the poet that is imbued with an inky melancholy. The effort of the poet in his poem 'A Dahlia of forty-five' to search a Dahlia that pairs with his age is an appealing portrayal of resonance between man and nature.

Mukul's style as a poet is quite unorthodox. There is an element of narrativity in his poetry that has a distinct appeal. I agree with Sukrita Paul who has written the foreword for the book when she says, "when a storyteller turns to poetry, the habit of his pen stretches the form of a poem to accommodate a narrative. Ideas flow in a sequence as in a story and there is also the presence of a character or two in the poem. His poem "Mr. Das" begins and ends as a story would, carrying the reader into its fold stanza after stanza, arousing the curiosity of the reader about what may happen next. But then, what makes this a poem? It is a certain kind of interiority that slowly gets introduced in the narrative. "Silence is paramount" says the poet, "and the words die on the tongue…" Yes, Mukul is a novelist as well, and this keeps informing his poetic style, lending it a unique fragrance, bringing a fresh literary flavour to the readers.

It's not difficult to appreciate the title of the book — 'Catharsis'. Mukul's poetry feels to be springing straight from a soul that is deeply affected by the aberrations in the world, characterised by the quest for the answers to the questions around life, God, religion, death and so on and so forth that remain eternally unanswered, and reaches the readers as the spontaneous overflow of emotions. His poetry has distinct philosophical overtones. His poems like 'I seek God not religion' and 'Life; a fatuous frenzy' are imbued with a distinct philosophical fervour.

'Catharsis' — with the amazing variety of themes — offers the readers a mesmerising kaleidoscope — nature, life, death, love, war, human values (or lack of it), religion, God, and reconciliation; there seems to be hardly anything that has escaped Mukul's sensibility. 'Air is morbid' particularly catches the attention as it echoes the mood of the current times that is witnessing one of the worst wars.

'Catharsis' is a read that engages the mind, stirs the heart and touches the soul.

Views expressed are personal