We may find ourselves decrying the current state of politics in India, however, a quick peek into the pages of erstwhile poets reveals that the tides of time have only darkened our festering political system. The same old battles are disguised in new masks and facades.
Here are some thought-provoking lessons from these poems on the politics of our time.
Let’s start with Jnanpith Laureate Agyeya, who died on this day in 1987. In a time when the real doers are often overlooked and chest-thumpers get credit, and votes, one of his poems puts things in a poetic and cultural perspective.
Agyeya’s Foresight About the Neglect of Real Doers
Agyeya was the nom de plume of Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayana. He was born in 1911 in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, a place of deep significant for it is here that Buddha breathed his last. Agyeya (which translates to “the unknowable”) lived many lives: a freedom fighter who fought alongside Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad; a novelist who wrote his first work under imprisonment; the founder-editor of a news weekly; a soldier who fought in World War II; and perhaps his most beloved role – a professor at Berkeley, Heidelberg University, and University of Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
All of these experiences gave him a deep insight into the state of the country perhaps, also leading him to questions and observations which find expression in his poetry. In the poem ‘Jo Pul Banayenge’ (Those Who Build the Bridge), he inverts the mythological story of Lord Ram taking the help of Hanuman (who was part human and part monkey) to build a bridge that would take him to his nemesis, Ravan.
While Ram ultimately kills Ravan and attains fame, what happens to the people who built the bridge for Ram to achieve this great feat? All they get for their effort is a grave insult.
जो पुल बनाएंगे / अज्ञेय
जो पुल बनाएँगे
वे अनिवार्यत: पीछे रह जाएँगे।
सेनाएँ हो जाएँगी पार
मारे जाएँगे रावण
जयी होंगे राम,
जो निर्माता रहे
इतिहास में
बन्दर कहलाएँगे।
(Those who build the bridge
Will inevitably
Get left behind.
Armies will cross over
Ravan will get killed
Ram will be victorious
Those who were the creators
In history
Will be called monkeys.)
Kedarnath Singh on Media and Fake News
Media can be an effective vehicle to generate fear and hysteria. Kedarnath Singh, renowned poet and professor of Hindi at JNU, began his journey in a humble village in Eastern UP. Born in 1934, he went on to complete his education in Varanasi and began his teaching career at JNU.
Singh, whom we recently lost last year, was known for a profound simplicity of language and style, touching on things of common and uncommon beauty. ‘Bagh’ (Tiger) is one of Singh’s most popular poems, which seems to convey one meaning when read in its entirety and another when read in parts.
One section is particularly fascinating as it touches upon a real fear created by a fictitious account of a tiger that came into the city. Nobody sees any tangible evidence of the tiger and yet, they believe it did come for the papers have published a report about it.
This seemingly benign poem has deeply sinister overtones when we compare to the mass hysteria created by media over the fear of an imagined enemy.
आज सुबह के अख़बार में / केदारनाथ सिंह
आज सुबह के अख़बार में
एक छोटी-सी ख़बर थी
कि पिछली रात शहर में
आया था बाघ !
किसी ने उसे देखा नहीं
अँधेरे में सुनी नहीं किसी ने
उसके चलने की आवाज़
गिरी नहीं थी किसी भी सड़क पर
ख़ून की छोटी-सी एक बूँद भी
पर सबको विश्वास है
कि सुबह के अखबार मनें छपी हुई खबर
गलत नहीं हो सकती
कि ज़रूर-ज़रूर पिछली रात
शहर में आया था बाघ
(In the morning papers
There was a small piece of news
That last night
A tiger had come into the city
Nobody saw it In the darkness, nobody
Heard its footsteps
Nor on any street
A small drop of blood fell
But everyone believes
That the news in the morning papers
Cannot be false
That certainly last night
A tiger had come into the city.)
Gorakh Pandey on the Fear of the Elite
Born in a small village in Uttar Pradesh in 1945, Gorakh Pandey saw the oppression of the caste system first hand. His small acts of rebellion like interacting with lower caste peasants and labourers had already created a deep rift between him and his family.
As a college student at BHU and later at JNU, he began writing provocative poems primarily against discrimination and suppression of marginalized communities.
He gained popularity during the Naxalite movement and his poems and songs resonated in rallies, protests and demonstrations across the nation.
While Pandey became the voice of the disenfranchised, he also suffered from depression. He ultimately committed suicide thirty years ago in a hostel room at JNU.
In the poem ‘Unka Dar’ (Their Fear), Pandey tries to awaken people to their own power. Although the rich political class has unlimited access to arms and armaments, real and revolutionary power often rests with the masses. It is a pity then that they can’t break free from the shackles of their own minds.
उनका डर / गोरख पाण्डेय
वे डरते हैं
किस चीज़ से डरते हैं
वे तमाम धन-दौलत
गोला-बारूद पुलिस-फ़ौज के बावजूद ?
वे डरते हैं
कि एक दिन
निहत्थे और ग़रीब लोग
उनसे डरना बंद कर देंगे।
(They are scared
What are they scared of
Despite their abundant wealth
And access to bombs and the police force?
They are scared
That one day
The unarmed and destitute
Will stop
Being scared of them.)
(Onaiza Drabu is an anthropologist and works on Kashmiri folklore. She curates Daak, a weekly newsletter and website. She tweets @onaizad. Prachi Jha studied literature and runs an NGO called Life Lab Foundation. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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