My Voice
Her eyes no longer search eagerly for the stretch of greenery.
The birds of her breath come no more with the twigs of life to
make their nest in her breast. All her emotions are deep rooted
in her bosom; she is collecting the threads of her memories, her
fingertips are rolling up the rosary of love songs, she is
getting detached to the words and the world.
She, who was with me in my times of distress, she, who was also
the cause of pain for me from time to time, she, whose voice
soothed me, is dripping like water from a broken mud pot.
I want keep my palm beneath her dripping life; I want to collect
the pearls of her breath in my “anjali” (folded palms), I want
to bring back her laughter. I ….I want to do something ….I do
not know what I want to do?
My best friend is suffering in the closed room of the hospital.
GREEN TARA
What shall I do?
Shall I pray for her?
Shall I write a poem for her?
Can I write a poem for her at this moment?
Can I squeeze my emotion in words?
If I write a poem, will it save her life?
If a poem cannot save a life, what is the use of writing a poem?
If words do not work as “shabd shakti” (word power) why
do I waste them?
If a poem is not for giving life, why write it when there is no
life? My words may be more liquid at this time. But they may
dilute the actual feeling. Will diluted words be powerful? No
…no one will agree to this.
Is this what is called, word power - the shabd shakti?
Indian poetics has talked about its different aspects. A number
of definitions are given in our Kavya Shastra- poetics. The
Kavya Mimansa ( a book of poetics) says- if the feelings of
poet cannot reach the common people- what is the use of his
being a poet? In Harshcharit too, it is said, “What is the use
of a language which cannot fit in the world?”
It means a poet has to do his/her KARMA
-which is creation, according to the wish of the supreme
creator. That is why Indian poetics call a poet – Kavi-
which is drishta / who is a visionary. There is a saying
which goes – a poet reaches almost every where, even those
places where the sun cannot reach. So it is the poet’s duty to
bring out every single emotion, to give words to every feeling.
Poem and pain are twin words.
There may be some eyes which are waiting for such words which
can help them to share their pain. There may be a heart which is
yearning to get a glimpse of those words which can tell his
story. Moreover, poetry and pain are also identical words. How
long can a poet run away from pain? He /she has to walk on fire…
Friends, poetry is above all pain. Kritya is again ready to set
forth in her new journey. A new era, a new moon, new light and
new pain. Let us go ahead with the second volume.
This time we have paintings from a traditional painting style –
that is thanka--A thanka is a Buddhist religious painting.
Thankas use intense colours and incredibly fine detail to depict
deities and other elements of the Buddhist cosmology. These
thankas have been sent by Ajeya from Kelang. He sent 5 thankas -
YANGCHEN LAMO, GREEN TARA, JAMBEYANG, VAJRAKEEL, and MILAREPA.
YANGCHEN LAMO , GREEN TARA , JAMBEYANG -These three Thankas were
made by Rev. Tsultrim Tanzin, born on 02-07-1954 at
Tingret village of Mayar valley Himachal Pradesh. He was
educated in Thanka art at “Gompa Style Painting School” run by a
Tibetan painter, of Karma Kati style, at Manali in Himachal
Pradesh. Monk Tsultrim Tanzin has the honour of having his
paintings exhibited in most of the Buddhist countries abroad.
VAJRAKEEL-- This Thanka is made by Rev. Lama Paljor of
Kardang Monastery in Bunan valley in Himachal Pradesh. Born in
1945 at Kardang village, the monk painter was trained by Lama
Yontan of Sumnam, a native painter of the Aipa School of
Buddhist Paintings, at Kardang Monastery it self. The last one
is of MILAREPA, This one was scanned from a poster.
In poetry this time, editor’s choice is Sumitranandan Pant-
a great poet of Romanism style. His poetry has a direct approach
to nature and philosophy, which is why it appeals to the heart.
Poetry in Our Time again features a number of talented poets. We
are grateful to all of them for sharing their poetry with us. In
the section Our Masters, we are bringing out the poetry of a
great poet -Subramanya Bharathiyar . In the section In
the name of Poetry, we are talking about translation in detail,
as Kritya handles it in order to bring out good poetry from all
over the world. Suma VS is once again here with her wonderful
ideas about poetry.
I hope and wish that this issue will satisfy the taste- buds of
all poetry lovers.
With best wishes
Rati Saxena
Please read
an interview with Rati Saxena by editor
www.andwerve.com
http://andwerve.com/june06_featured_artist
http://andwerve.com/rati_saxena
rs
