‘Diplomat poet’ creates rhymes from life
1 July 2012 12:00 AM GMT
Abhay K draws nspiration from the life he has led and Noam Chomsky’s concepts.
Diplomat-poet Abhay K has explored the intertwining of local with global, in his new book of poems which has been inspired by the famed global linguist Noam Chomsky's concept of universal common denominators.
‘Abhay's poetry contains a deep insight into the human psychology,’ said Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Kumar Bansal who released the book titled Remains here last evening in presence of writers, diplomats, publishers and journalists.
The author, a senior bureaucrat in the Public Diplomacy in Ministry of External Affairs, has previously penned several volumes of poetry fiction and non fiction.
The collection published by HarAnand Publications has been divided into six chapters - Row On, The Light of the North, The Primal Force, The Web Of Life, To The Dreamland And Back and The Way Forward.
Row On poems seem self-reflective or meditative, some of them ask eternal questions for which there are no ready answers. They are questions of human existence. While a few poems coincide to some extent with the Khayamian proposal of ‘raise a cup and change the order of skies’, other advise on the importance of moving on in torrid times.
Fellow rafter... In the rocky waters... Row on / However tumultuous the river / Light a candle / Howewer dark be the night / Don't be afraid / Row on / Row on, it says.
The second portion of the Remains comprises poems written by Abhay K in St. Petersburg, Russia where he lived for several years.
The cultural capital of Russia steeped in memories of great Russian writers and artists, says Abhay inspired him to pen them. Poems like Gogol, Dostoevsky, Akhmatova, and Guro aims to lead the reader to a nostalgic pilgrimage to the heartland of Russian culture.
To Gogol he writes, Your Long nose... and even longer overcoat/ can still be seen wandering/ On the Nevsky prospect / at odd hours/ guarded by an army of dead souls.
Primal Force contains poems that deal with relationships, as is echoed by the section title itself. Most of them are addressed to the other person through emotionally fervent lines.
This sections harps on the perennially nagging question of existence. ‘Who are you? Wither are we heading?' In spartan simple narrative but excelled in rhythmic sublimity, the poet is be-smitten by being and the flow of life. He wants to do the the impossible. He wants to stop time.
Though this genre has been the forte of many other poets what distinguishes Abhay's work is the linear, unfiltered, straight-from-the-heart language bereft of intellectual verbose.
You are the highest moment... You are the eternal charm / You are the unstoppable wheel of time, he writes.
Poems in Webs of Life are autobiographical dwelling on personal moments that are high and low, exhilarating and sad, bright and confused.
The Way Forward mostly contains poems that bring out the poet's concern for mother earth and her children.
‘Inter-winning oriental and anglicised philosophies is the need of the hour. The word 'planet' is becoming a universal discourse. We all have our national anthems. Do we have a 'planet anthem'?’ questions the poet-diplomat.
‘Poets actually talk to themselves, we can only overhear them,’ said Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee, director K K Birla foundation, who was present at the book's launch.
Sukrita Kumar, poet and assistant Professor at Delhi university, Talia Benston, poet and singer, and another poet Anamika were among the others who read out from Abhay K's book.
Diplomat-poet Abhay K has explored the intertwining of local with global, in his new book of poems which has been inspired by the famed global linguist Noam Chomsky's concept of universal common denominators.
‘Abhay's poetry contains a deep insight into the human psychology,’ said Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Kumar Bansal who released the book titled Remains here last evening in presence of writers, diplomats, publishers and journalists.
The author, a senior bureaucrat in the Public Diplomacy in Ministry of External Affairs, has previously penned several volumes of poetry fiction and non fiction.
The collection published by HarAnand Publications has been divided into six chapters - Row On, The Light of the North, The Primal Force, The Web Of Life, To The Dreamland And Back and The Way Forward.
Row On poems seem self-reflective or meditative, some of them ask eternal questions for which there are no ready answers. They are questions of human existence. While a few poems coincide to some extent with the Khayamian proposal of ‘raise a cup and change the order of skies’, other advise on the importance of moving on in torrid times.
Fellow rafter... In the rocky waters... Row on / However tumultuous the river / Light a candle / Howewer dark be the night / Don't be afraid / Row on / Row on, it says.
The second portion of the Remains comprises poems written by Abhay K in St. Petersburg, Russia where he lived for several years.
The cultural capital of Russia steeped in memories of great Russian writers and artists, says Abhay inspired him to pen them. Poems like Gogol, Dostoevsky, Akhmatova, and Guro aims to lead the reader to a nostalgic pilgrimage to the heartland of Russian culture.
To Gogol he writes, Your Long nose... and even longer overcoat/ can still be seen wandering/ On the Nevsky prospect / at odd hours/ guarded by an army of dead souls.
Primal Force contains poems that deal with relationships, as is echoed by the section title itself. Most of them are addressed to the other person through emotionally fervent lines.
This sections harps on the perennially nagging question of existence. ‘Who are you? Wither are we heading?' In spartan simple narrative but excelled in rhythmic sublimity, the poet is be-smitten by being and the flow of life. He wants to do the the impossible. He wants to stop time.
Though this genre has been the forte of many other poets what distinguishes Abhay's work is the linear, unfiltered, straight-from-the-heart language bereft of intellectual verbose.
You are the highest moment... You are the eternal charm / You are the unstoppable wheel of time, he writes.
Poems in Webs of Life are autobiographical dwelling on personal moments that are high and low, exhilarating and sad, bright and confused.
The Way Forward mostly contains poems that bring out the poet's concern for mother earth and her children.
‘Inter-winning oriental and anglicised philosophies is the need of the hour. The word 'planet' is becoming a universal discourse. We all have our national anthems. Do we have a 'planet anthem'?’ questions the poet-diplomat.
‘Poets actually talk to themselves, we can only overhear them,’ said Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee, director K K Birla foundation, who was present at the book's launch.
Sukrita Kumar, poet and assistant Professor at Delhi university, Talia Benston, poet and singer, and another poet Anamika were among the others who read out from Abhay K's book.
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