Jayant Parmar’s first collection ‘Aur’ was published in 1999, though I had been introduced to his poetry a few years before that. The blurb of ‘Aur’ carried my opinion in a paragraph, which ended with the sentence that ‘The voice of Jayant Parmar is a unique voice in the contemporary Urdu Nazm.’ The opinions of critics and scholars that came to the fore after the publication of ‘Aur’ bears witness to the fact that not only was his poetry admired but also its facets were openly acknowledged. Jayant Parmar’s creative journey continued after the publication of Aur in all its natural instinct and beauty. His latest anthology Pencil aur Doosri Nazmein (it also carries ghazals), is a living example of Parmar’s high creative energy.
There are various dimensions to the creative expression of Jayant Parmar. Some of his nazms are dedicated to those creative writers and poets whom he admires. This includes those who have already achieved the status of ‘classic’ in their area of work and also those who have already covered many milestones of their creative journey and are inclined to achieve further heights in their creative journey. Jayant also pays tribute to those artists who are no longer alive in the light of the vision he shared with them. Jayant also celebrates the creative and aesthetic elements that he shares with his contemporaries. This list of writers and artists includes poets like Amir Khusrau, Ghalib, Wali Gujrati, Marina Tsvetayeva, Octavio paz, Miraji, Salahuddin Parvez, Kumar Pashi, Nida Fazli, Aziz Parihar, Shamim Hanafi, Mohammad Alavi (as also yours truly), painters like Van Gogh, Gogin, Ram Kumar, M.F. Hussain, Salvador Dali and Amrita Shergil; singers like Rasoolan Bai, Fayyaz Khan, Hussain Bakhsh, Sufis like Nizamuddin Auliya, critics like Waris Alvi and Shamsur Rahman Farooqi and fiction writers like Nayyar Masood. I consider writings dedicated to these artists as evidence of unique individual aesthetic act of the poet. Had these writings been bereft of this quality, I would have considered them in the category of wordy verses.
Many nazms of Jayant Parmar are an outcome of those observations, which he earned as a result of his wide travels. They are not only photographic but also capture the colours of fundamental human thoughts that emerge in these places.
A few colours recur in the poetry of Parmar such as red, golden, black and also the colours of earth, sea and sky. Pencil too is an instrument of a specific colour. These colours mirror the various aesthetic states of Jayant Parmar’s mind.
Parmar experiences the metamorphosis of manifest nature, humans, flora and fauna, the cycle of life and death and their parallel, mutual and conflicting motions. This way he presents a multidimensional perspective of aspects of human life concomitant with varied sounds and colours. Life continues as a consequence of these actions and reactions. Death is apparently the end though it also carries the possibility of another journey. In Jayant Parmar’s poetry relationships pass through the humans and traverse the path of rise and fall of civilizations. History, facets of destruction and creation, negative and positive, expected and unexpected destinations, familiar and unfamiliar all participate in his poetic journey. Is it possible to preserve only the good? Jayant is naturally inclined to preserve everything good. In the chaos of elements, Parmar is endowed with the aesthetic glory of an attractive collage, a pleasant symphony.
My aforesaid comments regarding Parmar’s poetry might give the impression of philosophical quality of Parmar’s poetry and the way he is attempting to express his philosophy in his unique form. The truth is as Parmar is not a philosopher from any angle. He is through and through a poet. He always prioritises action over words. He is opposed to statement or sloganeering in poetry. He chooses his words based on their rhythm and colours. He regards his words to the extent that he carefully avoids repetition, wordiness and excess. His journey is local, national, international and universal at the same time. The fundamental facet of Parmar’s poetry is his ability to raise the subjective to the level of abstraction. He raises words to the heights where they can capture the music and scenes. His poem ‘Ghalib’ is a good example of this:
Whenever I read you
In each and every word I witness
the sky blossoming;
In each and every line I witness
The shades of universe
Expanding.
(Ghalib)
Wet paper, moist sand, sea, Earth and sky, stars, flora and fauna, fields and meadows, lanes and by-lanes, changing seasons and varied hues of the universe, do not assure the creation of tomorrow. But from birth to death, their manifestation, creation and destruction, at times in the manner of routine at times dramatic, become the source of creation and fountainhead of light. Parmar attempts to find himself in all these elements—at times as an individual, at times as a witness and an onlooker, at times as a painter and at times as an artist who is a poet, singer, historian, biographer at the came time and is searching for his identity in the forest of identities.
Parmar explores the heights of his being while remaining rooted to earth. We often hear these days about Dalit concerns. Dalit poetry and literature is being created in many languages of India. The Progressive poetry in spite of its claims to make the poor labourers and farmers as subject matter of poetry, failed to match this new trend, which is known as Dalit literature. In fact, Urdu literature has never had any movement, which can be termed as Dalit literature movement. We have also not had any author or poet in Urdu whom we could identify with Dalit concerns.
In this background, Jayant Parmar is perhaps the only poet in Urdu (though he expresses Dalit concerns in his Gujarati writings also) who has made Dalit concerns the subject of his poetry. His poems dealing with Dalit concerns carry a unique flavour of their own. This facet of his poetry places him in the line of Dalit poets writing in other languages. His poem ‘The Will of a Dalit Poet’ is a good example of it:
O the legacies
a Dalit leaves behind…
a paper soaked in blood,
a dark sun
on night’s crown,
a river of fire
on the nib of a pen,
his forefather’s lamps.
He never attacks you
with symbols
metaphors
personalities.
A beast’s burden,
a wounded shadow
of his own,
he has no existence;
he is no different
from a broken cup.
As one
who conjures images
from clay
And cow dung,
he knows at least,
that art lives on
in sand watch,
in the fragrance
of exiled earth of home
in the sharpness of pen
in the blackness of ink
art lives on.
But now he searches
for his own identity;
He craves for his being;
He claims with pride
He is a Dalit.
In the rotten society where the oppression of Dalit has continued for centuries, ‘The Stench of Hell-Pond’ is forever,
The stench of hell-pond
reached my school;
It descended beneath
the umbrella of sun
and entered bare-foot
the hell-pond.
She cleaned
animal skins,
soaked it in salt-water
with her frail feet,
and in return
got few pieces of meat for
me to eat.
Even today
as I polish my shoes
with cherry polish,
while going to my office,
I see its glaze,
my mother’s face,
and the stench of hell-pond
reaches my office!
Resistance in Urdu poetry is almost nil. Dalit poetry and margins of Dalit literature are however, undeniably present in the tone of resistance. Resistance can both be violent and peaceful. Peaceful resistance is what one associates with Gandhi. Violent too has become a mode of resistance in contemporary times. Jayant’s poem ‘Africa’ is an expression of this kind of resistance.
Common language and expression, avoidance of Persianate diction and ornate expressions are some of the unique features of Parmar’s poetry. Precision is another unique quality of his poetry. Since Parmar is essentially a painter, his nazms carry the beauty of both poetry and painting.
Though Parmar has chosen to call his anthology Pencil aur Doosri Nazmein, he equally excels in Ghazal poetry. Like his nazms, simple language and avoiding of ornate Persianate diction marks his ghazals too. His ghazals fall in the category of ‘Sahle-Mumtana’ due to their choice of words and selection of rhyme and rhythm. Here are a few examples:
I look for the shadow of flower in words
This passion is my test.
***
The bright backyard,
the sun smiling ever,
descending in every window—
a flower.
***
Never pass by that path again
Rumours are ripe in the lane.
***
The crazy savage wind fills the head,
Who knows where the city has fled;
***
How it interacts with body—
the touch of wind in the rain.
***
Rhythm is one of the fundamental problems in Urdu poetry. Jayant Parmar has not made much use of traditional rhythms. His poetry carries a pleasant mix of traditional and non-traditional rhythms. He prefers common words and he uses them in a manner that raises them from the mundane to unique heights of aesthetics. They become so inviting that the readers are lost in the poetry. Parmar is well acquainted with the creative traditions of Urdu poetry but he has kept himself free from the burden of its non-creative aspects.
Some poets are born only once in their poetry and keep repeating the same all their life. The greatness of Jayant Parmar lies in the fact that he is born every time afresh in his nazms and experiences the creative embodiment of his poetry.
Balraj Komal
14 April, 2006
Balraj Komal
Balraj Komal, born in Sep, 1928 in Sialkot, is a distinguished Urdu poet, critic, academic, short story writer and translator. He retired as Education Officer, Delhi Administration, and is now a freelance writer. He served as Member of the Delhi Urdu Akademi (89-90, 96-97) and as Member of Advisory Board for Urdu, and the Exec. Board, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (93-97, 1998-2002).
He has published many books of poetry, short stories, and critical articles, and has edited three volumes of Urdu translations of contemporary Indian short stories. Among his publications are Meri Nazmen , Rishta - e - Dil , Agala Waraq (poems), Ankhen Aur Paon (short stories), and Adab ki Talas (critical essays).
Among the several awards conferred on him are: UP Urdu Academy Award (1971, 1982), Sahitya Akademi Award (1985), and Govt of India Senior Fellowship (1988-89).
His address: E-139, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019.
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