Books Review in Detail
Review Of Poetic Flavour of K. V. Dominic–Article by Dr. Arbind Kumar Choudhary
Poetic Flavour of K. V. Dominic
Poetic Flavour of K. V. Dominic
Arbind Kumar Choudhary
R. K. Singh, D. C. Chambial, K. V. Raghupati, Mahashweta Chaturvedi , Rita Nath Keshri, Aju Mukhopadhayay, Harish Thakur, P. Raja, Jasvinder Singh, Anil Kumar Sharma, C. L. Khatri, B. K. Dubey, K. V. Dominic and several others have been glittering in the sky of the creative world with a number of poetry collections to their credits. K. V. Dominic is a poet, a critic, a short story writer and, above all, editor of International Journal on Multicultural Literature (IJML), a refereed journal of global repute. International Poets Academy, Chennai has conferred upon him ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his dedication to literature, peace and global harmony. Dr. Dominic is the founder secretary of Guild of Indian English Writers Editors and Critics and the editor-in-chief of Writers Editors Critics, an international refereed binaural journal. He is also the Vice–President of International Association of Poets, Essayists and Novelists, Bihar, and member of the advisory committees of a number of journals and literary organizations.
What appeals his poetry to the muse lovers is his candid expression, simple language, mind blowing thought, and innovative ideas that provokes the imagination of the muse lovers to its utmost degrees. His dedication to serve the humanity for its prosperity through the poems reserves his berth in the temple of fame across the globe. His minute observation, skilled presentation, provoking painting and appealing realism make him a great poet of Indian English literature. His poetic prosperity will be proved a milestone in the poetic world of Indian English poetry.
Plants and animals never divide
the earth among themselves;
What right has the moral man
to divide and own this immortal planet?
(Dominic, Winged Reason 36-37)
Like D. C. Chambial, Dominic opines that all living beings except human beings can never think of the earthly division. But human beings, though being the wisest creature, try to divide the immortal planet. Ironically the mortal beings divide the immortal planet. Plants and animals grow and blossom for our sake. We, people, grow for our sake only. What a surprising irony it is! All natural things are the sources of our livelihood and pleasure.
The dancing of the plant;
the smiling of the flower;
the chirping of the bird;
and all merry cries of other beings,
herald Life’s march here.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 29)
The dancing of the plants, the fragrance of the flowers, and the chirping of the birds provide intense joy to its utmost degrees in our life. Like D. V. Sahani, K.V. Dominic finds the plants, the animals and other beings more conducive to the human beings. D. V. Sahani sings:
Make every thing in Nature your friend.
It won’t let you down in your need.
It will give you the very best in it
And with raptures of ecstasy
Your being feed. (53)
All natural objects are for men’s use. The plant gives fruits, the flower gives fragrance, the bird gives melodious song and the animal gives milk for our livelihood. Man must have friendship with these objects and make the earth a better place to live in.
My dear son, live in Karma,
love all creations,
for I am in everything.
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 96)
God is considered to be the most powerful being of the universe. But God has himself become helpless for his children. Human beings have disobeyed their parent and are madly engaged in annihilation. God instructs us to love one another because he lies everywhere in all things. To Choudhary, God is a saving grace for those burning in furnace. It is said that God helps those who help only themselves. The plants, and the animals complain against the human beings, the worst crooked creature who cut the plants and eat the flesh of the animals. In the court of God, human beings have become culprit . The poet writes:
Petitions come to me
one after another
from plants and animals.
All complain of
your cruelty and torture:
they have no food;
they have no water;
they have no shelter;
and not even air.
They plead to me
to call your back;
save their lives,
and thus save the planet.
Kindly tell me, children,
what shall I do?
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 64-65)
The poet ridicules the modern race here:
Man, you are the cruelest,
you are the most ungrateful
of all God’s creations.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 25)
Man is the prize idiot of the earth. All objects of Nature follow natural code of conduct. Men have become the most ungrateful creatures of all God’s creations because they destroy jungles, kill the mute animals and eat their flesh and establish their own jungle Raj by replacing natural code of conduct. God made the earth and men made the country. God made men and men made caste, religion and nation. Surprisingly, men, being a minority amidst all living beings, rule over the majority without fear. Men do not follow the universal democratic code of conduct on this earth.
What right has the mortal man
to divide and own this immortal planet ?
What justice is there for the minority
to starve the majority?
(Dominic, Winged Reason 37)
The poet opines his philosophy of beauty in this stanza:
Bodily beauty is only one among the beauties;
It fades and decays as a flower does.
Who thinks of a flower when it is decayed?
The sun is beautiful but can you enjoy it at noon?
The objects of nature reveal its radiance and beauty.
Eternal beauty is in achievements eternal.
Handsome is he who handsome does.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 28)
Beauty has remained the source of pleasure from times immemorial. To Keats, “a thing of beauty is a joy forever.” To Dominic “Handsome is he who handsome does.” To D. V. Sahani
Real beauty is not of
complexion, form or face.
But of that state of mind
In which ego does itself efface
which is verily love
which come from God’s grace
which make everything beautiful
and our life on earth blissful. (53)
To Dominic, physical beauty is for the time being that blossoms and decays as a flower does. The beauty of the sun reveals its radiance. All things have their own merits and demerits, fragrances and ill-smelling. Internal beauty is forever. Like Mahashweta Chaturvedi, Dominic paints a terrible picture of the fair sex who has been treated as an instrument of lust and sex rather than the counterpart. No one tries to peep into women’s heart and mind. None takes notice of her desires moods, minds and feelings.
Women is the game!
Birth to death,
an instrument of lust
and hot-selling sex!
(Dominic, Winged Reason 42)
Like Kamala Das, Dominic has presented a gloomy picture of women community that require right and liberty in our male dominated society.
Unfortunate crow feeds cuckoo’s chicks;
yet crow is not lauded
and cuckoo is extolled.
Crow’s counterpart dove;
icon of love and innocence.
Why is white attractive
and black disgusting?
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 57)
Ironically the black and white colour have been designed as a symbol of bad and good by the scholars. The fair-comflexioned bride is preferred to black. The crow, an icon of love and innocence, feeds cuckoo’s chicks, yet crow is not lauded. The poet raises a question regarding the superiority of white over black and, lastly, advocates that handsome is that handsome does.
Intellectual mafia
assumes omniscient;
exploits innocent people;
detracts them
from their creator;
makes them pessimists;
imposes their
obsolete philosophies.
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 37)
Politics is the root cause of all our sufferings. The nexus between the politician, the criminal and the bureaucrat has made our life hellish on this garden of God. Like Daruwalla, Choudhary, and Chaturvedi, Dominic believes that the dirty political game has made our life worse than curse. All those who are innocents or ignorant are befooled by the politicians in the name of prosperity of the race, religion and region. Choudhary ridicules the political mafia in his My Songs:
A wolf in sheep’s clothing
Sheds crocodile tears for the suffering.
O Blood sucker of the sufferer!
Your name is Leader. (18)
Poverty and unemployment are our enemy. Ignorance is our foe.
Isn’t poverty the greatest enemy?
Why not fight against it
and wipe out destitution,
pointing guns, rifles and missiles
at the chest of the poor?
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 66)
People claim, condemn, and kill each other on the name of injustice and inhumanity. Our worst enemy is our ignorance, not the other beings. Our worst enemies that are poverty, false notion, ego, unemployment etc. flourish at the chest of the poor . The atomic and other destructive weapons are made on the name of security, humanity and prosperity at the cost of the advancement of the poor and the exploited. Hence the poet appeals God for instruction and guidance.
God, teach me how to detach;
and also teach my neighbours
and millions of my brothers and sisters
to show love and mercy
to all non-human beings.
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 52)
Aung San Suu Kyi, Asian Nelson Mandela, is the epitome of valour who embraced a hellish life and solitary confinement for the liberation of the masses from the dark kingdom of the dictator. Her slogan of liberty by adopting Gandhi’s doctrine begged Nobel Prize for peace and stirred the fire of liberation for humanity, honesty and harmony.
Suu Kyi, the epitome of valour,
showed her people through her life
liberty is born from the ashes of fear.
Her twenty years of political life;
more than fourteen in solitary cells.
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 53)
The Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi moulded the generation for peace, prosperity and pure life. The poet glorifies her sacrifice whole heartedly.
The sun of knowledge
can never be eclipsed
by the moon of ignorance.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 67)
Knowledge is our best friend while ignorance is our worst enemy. People fall into misfortune for want of knowledge. The light of the sun enlightens the world that can rarely be eclipsed. The moon of ignorance blossoms for want of the sun of knowledge. The poet appeals to get more and more knowledge to quench the kingdom of ignorance. The poet is optimistic that sooner or later the sun of knowledge will replace the moon of ignorance for the restoration of the kingdom of love, peace and universal brotherhood.
Om is our breath;
a tonic to mind and body.
It’s a celestial music
showering manna on the earth;
it gives us peace and happiness;
Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 66)
The poet wishes to fly like an angel to instil humanism in the communal minds and also wishes to replace the vicious circle for favour of the kingdom of wisdom. Like an angel, the poet’s ardent desire is to revive the kingdom of wisdom for the prosperity, peace and universal brotherhood. It is also the duty of the poet to make life fragrant for all those who suffer from the cruel hands of tyranny, and inhumanity.
If I could fly like an angel,
would plead all prophets
to inspire and instil humanism
in million’s communal minds.
I would meet Gandhi too
who is weeping at his shattered dreams.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 21)
C. L. Khatri’s verse, “Godsey killed you once / They kill you everyday” (30 ) finds a great resemblance with these lines because Gandhi’s dreams of Ram Rajya has already been the story of the past rather than the present.
K. V. Dominic is the burning voice of Indian English poetry who has been perfuming the poetic scenario from a decade with his melodious song, fragrant feeling, racy style, capital ideas, and philosophical views. Like R. K. Singh, D. C. Chambial, R. N. Sinha, Dominic is the roaring voice of the creative milieu who has become a twinkling star in the sky of the creative world and has also been promoting the peeping poets for poetic perfection, prosperity and peace. His forceful voice will remain ever ringing in the womb of time.
Works Cited
Choudhary, A. K. My Songs. Begusarai, Bihar: IAPEN, 2008. Print.
Dominic, K.V. Winged Reason. New Delhi: Authorspress, 2010. Print.
—. Write Son, Write. New Delhi: Gnosis, 2011. Print.
Khatri, C. L. Ripples in the Lake. Bareily: Prakash Book Depot, 2006. Print.
Sahani, D. V. Whispering Silence. Gwalior: Amrit Prakashan, 2005. Print.
Dr. Arbind Kumar Choudhary, English poet &critic, is the Head of the Department of English, Rangachahi College, Majuli, Assam, India-785104. He is the editor of the research journals, Kohinoor (ISSN 0973-6395) & Ayush (ISSN 0974-8075).