Book Details
Multicultural Symphony (A Collection of Poems)
Year Of Publish:
Multicultural Symphony
(A Collection of Poems)
K. V. Dominic
Published by:
Gnosis, New Delhi
2014
Dedicated to
My Bosom Friend and Chief Motivator
Sudarshan Kcherry
Preface
Multicultural Symphony is my third collection of poems after Winged Reason, published in 2010 and Write Son, Write, published in 2011. The only specialty of this collection is that the poems were composed after my retirement as Associate Professor of English. There is not much change in my themes or the poetic style.
Poetry is the best and easiest medium of imparting messages and values to the people. In this busy cyber age which is fast deteriorating in eternal human values, poetry has a great role in moulding cultured and civilized society, but the tragic irony is that none listens to the poets nowadays. Very few people cultivate reading habits and even if one reads something outside newspapers and periodicals they are fictions which entertain their minds. I don’t think if any reader searches for a novel which conveys great messages or values. Poetry is the earliest form of literature and poets were considered seers everywhere. The tastes of the people have changed and they don’t want to indulge in grave, philosophical or metaphysical thoughts. The evil influence of visual media and internet dissuades people from serious thinking. The tragic fate of poetry is universal and the poets are ignored worldwide. Literary awards most often go to fiction writers and there is no encouragement for the poets from any quarter. Publishers are unwilling to take poetry as readers are few. Governments, academies, universities and other literary bodies do not promote poets by giving grants or incentives. I must specially congratulate my publisher Mr. Sudarshan Kcherry who has published maximum number of poetry books in India. It is because of his high ethical sense that he takes poetry collections one after another in spite of the huge loss of money from his pocket. He is indeed the poet of the poets and the critic of the critics. I can’t find a comparison to him in the publishing world, at least in India. He is so unique that he inspires the writers with his intuition and the poetry flows from their pen unawares. My association with him is so deep that I am dedicating this book to him, who is my bosom friend and chief motivator.
Now coming to my themes in this book. Basically I am a follower of Advaita philosophy. Though I am a Christian by birth I believe in Adviata. My commonsense doesn’t allow me to see God as a separate entity. I believe that that there is a Supreme Power or Energy which is controlling this universe. We call it God or the Creator. That power is the spirit or soul of the universe and its element is present in all its creations including atoms. Thus divinity is there in all bodies, both living and non living. Based on this reason I cannot find human beings better than other beings or dearest to the Creator as some religion teaches. Since the Creator has given reasoning power to human beings, they boast that the Creator is their own, having their own shape, and they only have souls which other beings lack, and other beings are inferior and are created for human beings’ welfare and food etc. To me this universe is a big concert or symphony, a harmony of diverse notes. All creations play their role in concordance, but man tries to play discordant notes–stands against the rhythmic flow of the system. The inter-relationship between Man, God and Universe is the main theme of my poems. To me science and religion are two sides of the same coin. As man is the latest evolutionary being, he should respect other beings and plants which have greater legacy to claim in this universe. The intellectual capacity of man is used more for destruction than construction, more for vices than virtues. It is an irony that the more one is intellectual and educated the more he is vicious and crooked. Illiterate, rural people are more innocent and graceful than educated urban people. The leaders of the society–political, religious and intellectual—who should be models to the society, are very often worse than the rank and file or laity. They tend to act like mafia. This exploitation of the leaders, looting and torturing of the innocent masses, itch me almost every day and it gives birth to poems one after another. The huge devastation done to the nature and environment by sand mafia, forest mafia and quarry mafia goads me to react through my only medium, poetry. The fast widening gap between the poor and the rich–the vast majority deprived of food and shelter, indirectly caused by the greed of the two or three percent rich, bleeds my heart and results in several poems. Sexism or discrimination shown to woman as part of patriarchy is another wounding thorn which forces me to react through poetry.
Multicultural beauty of the universe, developed and developing nations’ irrational craze for war and defence, sacrifice of soldiers for the nation, the need for peace relations between nations, superstitions created by religions and the exploitation of the laity by clergymen, global warming, need for conservation of nature, torture to elephants, child labour, casteism, unemployment, exploitation at the labour sector, dignity of labour, need of value based education, Swami Vivekananda’s contributions, celebration of man’s intelligence, skills and selfless service for society are other themes I have dealt in my poems. Sources for my themes are very often newspaper reports. I love to write more on concrete ideas than abstract ones.
I have only one motive behind my compositions—imparting some messages and values to the young minds which are groping in darkness and ignorance. Today’s youth are disillusioned and they lead a futile life. They have no role models or messiahs to lead them in the right track. The clergy who are supposed to guide them are misleading them very often to fanaticism and religious fundamentalism. The same is the case with political leaders who never impart democratic, secular and patriotic values but partisan and parochial values to the young minds. Since the content of the poem is most important to me I don’t mind if the lines lack the luster of style. There are forty seven poems in this collection. I am presenting them before my esteemed readers who are the best judges to assess their quality. Once again thanking my dearest publisher, Mr. Sudarshan Kcherry for taking my humble work, I wind up my words.
K. V. Dominic
Contents
1. Multicultural Harmony
2. Siachen Tragedy
3. Horoscope
4. Global Warming’s Real Culprits
5. Cohabitance on the Planet
6. Multicultural Kerala
7. On Conservation
8. Charles Darwin, Patron Saint of Animals
9. Elephant Mania
10. India, Number One!
11. Child Labour
12. Caste Lunatics
13. Bulbul’s Nest
14. Beena’s Shattered Dreams
15. Mullaperiyar Dam
16. I Wish I could Fly Back
17. Pearl’s Harbour
18. Dignity of Labour
19. Drowned Dreams
20. Hungry Mouths
21. Ananthu and the Wretched Kite
22. A Spider in My Bathroom
23. Fruit of Labour
24. Sail of Life
25. Valueless Education
26. Musings on My Shoes
27. Multilingual Black Drongo
28. Mukesh’s Destiny
29. Lottery Ticket Sellers
30. Mahi’s Fourth Birthday
31. Who am I?
32. Bathroom Monologues
33. Martyrs at the Borders
34. Mother’s Love
35. Tears of a World Champion
36. Thodupuzha Municipal Park
37. Why is Fate So Cruel to the Poor?
38. Women’s Cricket World Cup 2013
39. ACTS–Saviors on the Roads
40. Beach Beauticians
41. A Tribute to Sakuntala Devi
42. Celebration of Girl-Child’s Birth
43. Where shall I Flee from This Fretful Land?
44. Homage to Swami Vivekananda
45. Agitation through Farming
46. An Ideal Festival
47. Protest against Sand Mafia