R.K.SINGH: Indian English Poet: Impervious R K Singh: A Critical Study of the Collection Against the Waves- Selected Poems by Dr Ram Kulesh Thakur

Impervious R K Singh: A Critical Study of the Collection Against the Waves- Selected Poems

                                                                                            --Dr. Ram Kulesh Thakur
                                                                                              Assistant Professor
                                                                                              Department of English
                                                                                              SRM AP University, Andhra Pradesh

The fact cannot be overlooked that in the recent times a major nonerasable
chapter has been added to the history of Human
Civilization (or may be the ‘Un-civic’ side of modern man) and it
records a difficult, anxiety-provoking, and morally debatable
decade; but yet, the silver lining may be considered to be a few
pieces of remarkable literature. To quote just an example, one can
find the rich tapestry Against the Waves- Selected Poems by Ram
Krishna Singh, Publisher: Authorspress, New Delhi, 2021.

Dr Ram Krishna Singh, one of the leading contemporary Indian
poets writing in English, celebrates his overall existence and each
experience whether dark or bright, dull or exciting, dreadful or
captivating with the simple looking but pregnant poetic lines. His
poems reflect upon his vast experience starting from his days of
journalism to being a lecturer and then a professor. Singh’s poems
cover a wide spectrum of topics such as close observations of the
daily monotonous life, traditions, cultural beliefs, religion,
superstition, history, science, academics, research, corruption,
social evils, love, sex, art, modern practices, politics, etc.

The collection Against the Waves displays a colourful mosaic of
different experiences coming from different walks of life having
different themes making it more enriching altogether. A closer
look at the Contents Pages, i.e., 7-9, with a mention of 66 titles
such as ‘Haunted’, ‘Self-Neglect’, ‘Rot’, ‘Dream’, ‘Weird Chains’,
‘Prayers’, ‘Insomnia’, ‘Quarantined’, ‘Covid- 19’, ‘NawRuz’,
‘New Gods’, ‘Flood’, ‘Test’, ‘Mahakaal’, ‘Tanshi’, ‘Warning’,
‘Creativity’, ‘Me Too’, ‘Rituals’, ‘Designs’, ‘Neighbours’,
‘Intellectuals’, ‘Enemy’, ‘Culture’, ‘Strike’, ‘Marriage’, ‘Lies’,
‘Rootless’, ‘Liberation’, ‘God Too Awaits Light’, ‘Silence: A
White Distrust’, ‘Redemption’ etc clearly bespeaks the poetic
spectrum. It is impossible to categorize Singh’s poems into specific
sub-categories or thematic headings as each poem is a different
world, and more importantly, it is a complete ‘Communicative
Event’. Nonetheless, his poems may broadly be partitioned into
two major sub-headings: first, highlight the journey with-in
(personal inward experiences) and second, the worldly experiences
(the day-to-day encounters). The most striking observation in this
collection is its use of ‘Fresh’ metaphors that are passionately
intense. Some of the poems in this collection display a classical
poise whereas a few others dramatically create the tremors that
both undermine and bolster that poise. This collection has
something for every type of reader as a few of the poems are
funny, thought-provoking, serious, challenging, evocative, storytelling,
satirical, sombre, etc.

Unlike Singh’s other popular poetry collections, in Against the
Wave she decides to give an apt title to the poems making it easy
for the readers to construct a discourse. In fact, the titles are very
wisely selected and they rightly serve the purpose of constructing a
desired suitable discourse platform for the readers.

The first poem of this collection titled ‘Haunted’ straightaway
exposes the reader to the element of surprise, which is quite
evident in his poems, with the lines: “I don’t let silence sleep /
even if none hear / the disturbed spirit / growing wild to say / what
I never say” (p 11). The 16 lines poem uses only a three hyphens,
two commas, and a colon that clearly reflects upon the severity of
tone. The major verbs: sleeps, grope, contain, hates, suffer, fear,
and hear significantly constructs a dark or negative emotion. The
poem moves inwards to project the state of being of the charred
soul; the soul that is ‘Haunted’.

In one of the poems titled ‘It’s my Time’, Singh coins a new verb
‘hydraheaded’ to show his treatment of truth: “I’ve hydraheaded
truth too” (p 12), and it clearly manifests that he falls short of
regular language vocabulary to express his unique experiences. His
poems, quite frequently, display his secular person as one can find
uses of signs, symbols, myths, images, archetypes, etc across
religions, cultures, traditions, and geography. To quote an
example, one finds the use of “Christ’s kingdom”, “divine fruit”,
“Peter”, and “prophet” in the poem ‘It’s my Time’ (p 12).

Some of the poems in the collection are complicated as well. Here,
one finds the words moving faster than usual, with a constantly
changing rhythm and a centre in motion, and as a result, the poems
are buoyant, often playful, as they cover ground from desire to
religion, aspiration to politics, need to action, and dream to reality.
Singh’s notable and prodigious ability of experimenting with form
and syntax surfaces in a good number of poems in the given
collection. For example, the poem ‘Energy Block’ presents the
discordant body and soul in quick bouts between words: “Frazzled
and restless / bouts of anxiety / addiction, sleeplessness / spinal
degeneration / pain in neck and back / numbness in the legs / loss
of teeth, libido / anal bleeding and what not”, and it continues
further in the lines “things get hairy and scary / with body failure /
ailments pop up / spirit dries up / mind disconnects”. (p 13)

As the poet is a world-renowned Haiku practitioner, the traces of
brevity, absolute imagery, wit, and momentous capture/depiction
can be easily found in some of the poems in this collection as well.
For example, in the poem titled ‘Post-Election’:

They don’t hear
the silent screams of
millions

tired of misfortune
play games of convenience
innocent voters

sordid lifenation’s
destiny
heaven-fed (p 15)

Here, one can find the three different stanzas (above) exactly
replicating the structure of a Haiku: the first stanza has 3-5-3
syllables in the lines respectively, the second stanza displays 6-7-5,
and again the third is composed in 3-5-3 syllables, respectively.
One cannot miss the powerful images of ‘silent screams’ and
‘innocent voters’. To quote another example, the poem titled ‘Rot’:

Moon energy
fills up the inner space –
call to wake up

or be hostage to wounds
that don’t autocorrect
astral faults

knitting the luck
amidst the waste gods spread
I smell the rot (p 16)

Here, one finds the syllabic structure of 4-6-4 in the first three lines
and last three lines respectively. Again, one cannot miss the use of
the technical term ‘autocorrect’ in connection to ‘wounds’, thus
making it a powerful imagery. Thus, one finds that Singh lives
upto his worldwide repute for capturing a ‘moment’ in his poems
and making his reader re-live the same with his sense of
perception. Undoubtedly, Singh has given a new dimension to the
practice of ‘Haiku’ in the Indian Literary Scene, but even his other
poetic forms are equally powerful and evocative. It wouldn’t be
inappropriate to quote Singh here: “Living life in a boring
environment, it is a challenge to sustain poetic creativity. Yet I
have survived the inner and outer sterility. It has been great fun to
use some small, negligible aspect of one’s behavior, or some
insignificant event, or something read or heard in the past that
stays unconsciously in the memory and gets connected some other
time while something incites me into a poem, or I get my own
thoughts as I read somebody else’s poem, or I recollect some
complex dream experiences into the garb of a poem. I see to it that
the emotion thus expressed makes sense to me as an ordinary
reader and is not mere claptrap in the form of a poem.”

As expected, a few poems in this collection are pungent satire, or
better called sarcastic, such as ‘Aftermath’: “wisdom splashed in
gonzo arguments / cocks the walk. Others too feel his sting but
prefer / silence. They know the caged parrot’s free / to shame
seven decades of democracy groomed / differently…” (p 18). The
use of the terms such as ‘gonzo’, ‘sting’, ‘caged’, ‘parrot’, and
‘shame’ undoubtedly makes the poem pungent, and the repeated
quick succession of these terms adds a strong sarcastic tone to it.
Singh can never keep himself away from his surroundings and it is
clearly reflected through a few of his poems, although he never
admits that he intends to make his poetry didactic. One
magnificent example displaying his social awareness is the poem
titled ‘Weird Chains’:

They invent new lies with periodical distractions
repeat falsehood till truth turns doubtful
teach generations the ways of hating
the porn of discriminating, dividing, killing
the innocents that love their neighbours
value diversity, equality and peace
shunning the weird chains that lock the sun for roots to
grow (p 22)

One noticeable element in the poems of this collection is the
absence of ‘period’ or ‘full stop’ from the poetic text, thus making
each line run on to each other not only adding serious tone to it but
also indicating a state of chaos that the poems’ discourse is
suggestive of. The absence of adequate pauses (not clearly
indicated) makes the poems appear somber, but to some extent
ghostly. To quote another suitable example, one finds the same in
the poem titled ‘Insomnia-II’

My brain forgets to clean toxins
create and store memories
refresh my being and bliss
by morning the sun pronounces
my time is running out fast
there’s no magic elixir
for sleep that revives before rest (p 26)

A few poems such as ‘Quarantined’, ‘Covid-19’, ‘NawRuz’, ‘New
Gods’, ‘Third Wave’ etc. in the collection reverberates the Covid
19 experiences where the poet vehemently argues “the house arrest
sickens / the fear kills the spring” (p 29) and questions the “fanatic
ambitions” (p 29). The poet labels the recent unfortunate
development as “culture of suicide” (p 29) and declares “no recreation
/ but perpetual death” (p 29).

The erotic images that come to life is yet another strong
characteristic of Singh’s poetry and the same is experienced in the
poem ‘Creativity’:

The hole between words is vaginal
if the mind could penetrate

the seed won’t question age
inside the lines it crackles

with orgasmic pleasure
meanders through the tunnel

from first breath to oblivion
stays erect, liberates the text (p 48)

One cannot miss powerful erotic images scattered here and there in
his poems: “in bed sleepless she turns / undoing a hook or two / of
her tight blouse” (p 92), “love tickles / with erect pistil: / hibiscus”
(p 92), “love making / he melts into her / time stands still” (p 93),
“the wax dips / down the long candle - / a soft hum” (p 93),
“fingers grope / the leaking pulp / moist lips” (p 100), etc.

Singh, to provide an insight into his own poetry reveals: “What is
my poetry about? Much depends on the insight into how one
responds to my poetry or how delightful to the senses or
challenging to the mind one finds it, or how one wants to interpret
my creative perception of meaning in the world. There are many
themes, individual passion, historic-mythical awareness, human
relationship, social consciousness. I am my own veil and
revelation; I am both the subject and the object and reveal others as
much as I reveal myself.” In the poem ‘Against the Waves’, the
poet uncovers his charred soul: “The crowded lift and emptiness of
the flat / doesn’t help me resurrect what’s gone”, “…invent a new
life to live with”, “the ghostly silence”, and “…straying against the
waves” (p 23).

One cannot miss the real-life aura that the poet creates through his
poems, and hence, ensures that every reader’s interest is engaged:
“Stand naked / before the mirror / see changes / from top to toe / a
tragic tale” (p 31); “Women and children / crossing the flooded
huts” (p 33); “I can’t remember / my mother’s face” (p 40); “I love
the night with you / when sleepless we yield” (p 46); “Evening
Walk: / a peep into my own / lanes and bylanes / bodily harmony /
a sense of inner calm” (p 53), etc. Most of the poems in this
celebrated collection elucidates Singh’s opinion: “Poetry is an art,
a verbal art, which when effective, generates some physical,
emotional or psychosexual sensation, stimulates some sensuous,
spiritual or exalted pleasure, or provokes some mood or aesthetic
sentiments, feelings, thoughts or ideas. It is also subjective
expression of a social vision, reality or protest and an extension of
the poet’s self.”

Talking about different opinions on Singh, it would be erstwhile to
note that R. A. Singh explains in his essay “The Poetry of R. K.
Singh” that the “. . . poetry seems to be rooted in visions and
divisions that traverse human existence, feeling the pulse in the
rhythmic flow of time. His social visions intersect with the private;
his flux of emotions creates a complex sound and silence, waving
through love, loneliness, failure, frustration, and memories in
search of home in a hostile world. His imaginings are not only
delightful to the senses but also challenging to the mind.” (170)
The comment or critical observation made here is equally valid for
his latest collection of poems as well, and it further suggests that
the poet in R K Singh is the same although he has received many
more bruises. The latest collection of poems records his present
(recent) experiences, but it records the same in his established
signature pattern.

Stephen Gill points out in his essay “R. K. Singh: A Mystic Poet of
Beauty”: “The poet’s constant analytical deliberations plunge him
often into the abyss of gloom.” (178), and the same continues till
his latest collection. He looks disturbed by the Pandemic, Politics,
Cultural Degradation, Social Behaviour, Anxiety, etc. Although a
lot of other critics have made remarkable observations on the
poetry of R K Singh, but the best comes from the poet himself: “To
tell you the truth, most of the poems I wrote have simply
happened. The poetic mood, short-lived as it is, would help create
from anything, anywhere, anytime. I can’t write a poem
deliberately on a theme on demand. Nor have I been interested in
didactic or moralistic writing. My emotions and experiences are,
therefore, genuine and sympathetic readers can relate to them.
Personally speaking, a poem’s composition helps me get a release
from myself as much as from others or whatever agitates me. I feel
free by unburdening myself in verses; I experience an inner relief,
a freedom from the built-up pressure, tension, unease, or whatever,
you know. If it turns out to be a good poem, it offers a pleasing
sensation, rest to my disturbed nerves, and peace to my inner
being. (http://creationandcriticism.com/113.html)

The poet has found a unique way of finding solace to his queasy
heart and that comes to him through his poetry. His poems serve
him a direction into which he wanders looking for the ultimate
peace, relief, escape, or in simple term ‘Nirvana’. The poet seeks
meaning of the mystery of life, its reality and pains through the
eyes of Nature, metaphors of self-contradictions, intrinsic
dissonance, harmony, and identity through his poems.

R.K.SINGH: Indian English Poet

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Impervious R K Singh: A Critical Study of the Collection Against the Waves- Selected Poems by Dr Ram Kulesh Thakur

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