Writer: Sukhinder
Paul Dhillon’s name could be considered among the finest punjabi ghazal writers of Canada. He is a poet of gentle dialogue. He understands life. As a ghazal writer he makes it sure that his ghazal stanzas are balanced from the point of view of form as well as content.
Reading of the ghazal collection ‘Dishade Ton Paar’ (Beyond the Horizon) gives a feeling that Paul Dhillon not only makes issues related to human life as the subject matter of his ghazals; rather, he also makes flowers, trees, plants, streams & rivers as his subject matter too. In today’s world a conscious writer understands that you cannot separate the man from his environment. We are now facing the consequences for ignoring this fact for centuries. Poisonous gases emitted from the chimneys of the factories owned by greedy men are polluting the environment. Thick forests were cut and burnt in the stoves. Plants & flowers were mixed in pasture for the animals. As a consequence of showing such irresponsibility towards the environment we are facing global warming today. We are facing severe storms; hurricanes are inflicting heavy destruction; rivers are flooded; areas of thousands of miles is becoming desert. To stop this and to create a balance in our environment, we will have to develop once again friendship with our surroundings. Once again we will have to decorate our surroundings with flowers and plants. Paul Dhillon also thinks in the same manner about the mutual relationships of man and plants and flowers in his surroundings:
There is only this much of difference
between me and a tree
it is still at one place
but i am moving sitting and standing
Plants and trees not only make our surroundings beautiful, they also help us in clearing the air in our surroundings. This is the reason today this slogan is echoing around the globe that there is only one thing ‘greenery’ in our surroundings which can help us in controlling the increasing number of problems on our planet earth. Friends of earth are echoing the slogan of ‘green revolution’. If the greenery will increase on earth then the environment will have more moisture. This will not only lower the rising temperature of earth; it will also put a stop on the increasing desert area.
Along with creating consciousness about the environment Paul Dhillon also uses source of life sun as a symbol of light of knowledge and science in the stanzas of his ghazals:
Mirrors taking sun out of their lives
will remain in darkness for ever
This is how he has used ‘darkness’ and ‘light’ as symbols in his ghazals:
If there is darkness surrounding us
there will be sadness everywhere
solution of sadness lies
in our progressive awakening
By putting a question mark in front of the value system of today’s way of life Paul Dhillon talks about the arrival of great men such as Mohammed, Buddha & Nanak in the history of the human civilization on our planet earth . They spent all their lives to enlighten the masses and make this life more livable. Such great men made betterment of the lives of the humanity as the motive of their lives. They had no place in their lives for personal egos. This is the reason that even after centuries those great men have their followers in millions in number and they are spread in every corner of the world. But today’s man who is full of ego and for whom ‘I’ is the only thing that is important in life - is anxious to get ahead in life by trampling everyone under his feet - whosoever comes in his way. Paul Dhillon is also experiencing the same kind of feeling, thats why he says:
Mohammed, Buddha, Nanak have been forgotton by everybody
in today’s world everyone is Abdali, Sikander
As he talks about the present day world, Paul Dhillon also draws our attention towards another thing. People are not happy from inside but they are trying to show that they are happy by putting fake smiles on their faces. Perhaps, it shows the reality of our times that now faked things are getting more importance than the real things in our lives. But this is also a reality that you can make artificial flowers as much beautiful as you want, but they will never be able to give fragrance. Let us read more stanzas from the ghazals of the poet Paul Dhillon to understand his such kind of thought processing in his poetry:
1. Sadness on their faces
but they are singing songs of joy
with artificial fragrance
i am seeing people satisfying themselves
2. We are living in strange times
at every place in every direction
artificial fragrance is
piercing our breath
3. Artificial flowers will remain artificial forever
sprinkle them with perfume or fill them with any color
Man has made a great progress in the fields of knowledge/science/technology in the twentieth century. With great progress made in the means of transportation world has become like a village. Distance of thousands of miles can be completed in hours. With the help of internet and wireless technology, we can send/receive our messages in seconds. Completing a distance of millions of miles man has put his mark his footsteps on the surface of moon too and now he is dreaming to reach to other planets of our solar system. Despite making so much progress in the areas of knowledge/technology man is still backward so far as the fields of culture and religion are concerned. Even today, people are killing each other in the name of religion, caste or status in the society. In the name of religion rivers of human blood are rolling on this earth. Present day fundamentalist religious leaders are poisoning brains of innocent men & women with their religious propaganda full of hate and discrimination to excite them to kill innocent people of other religions and cultures. Such irresponsible religious leaders show them dreams of flirting in their lives after death with virgins and destroy their lives by making them serial killers. But Paul Dhillon is portraying very intelligently and effectively this great tragedy of post-modern times through his following stanzas of his ghazals:
1. Friends, people who are here ignorant of knowledge
seeds of hatred are being sowed in their hearts
2. ‘Anybody who will die for religion will be bestowed with nymphs’
their hearts are filled with such lies
3. ‘Flow blood in the name of religion he is being taught
how to become a human bomb is being shown to him
4. ‘Kill in the name of God’ kill the innocent
such a lesson in the name of religion is being taught these days
After reading ‘Dishade Ton Paar’ poetry collection, one gets the impression that Paul Dhillon keeps the canvas of his ghazals very big. Politics, religion, culture, economics, education, environment, philosophy - every field of life could become a subject matter of his ghazals. He also understands this thing very well that as a means of communication language in itself is not complete. In many instances when words fail to communicate something, silence of man becomes successful in communication of that fact. Silence has its own language. This is the reason when people suddenly become silent we make an estimate that they are busy in conspiring or when there is sudden stillness in the environment, leaves of trees stop moving we predict that soon storm is coming. Talk of such limitations of language and the need to go beyond the words can also be experienced in the following stanzas of Paul Dhillon’s poetry:
1. I have followed what was in his heart
though his lips remained mum from uttering a single word
2. Sad faces are showing grievance very visibly
every vision is fixed, it is the conspiracy of the silence
3. Even the walls have ears, think about this
initiate a dialogue, but slowly slowly
4. I was able to follow everything, that was in the heart
though, the lips didn’t murmur even a single word
In our times when every sector of life is in chaos, we must welcome the writings of those writers in the Canadian punjabi literary world who want to see the principles which donot favour any kind of discrimination based on religion, color, race, caste or gender. A society in which people belonging to different cultures would be blooming together like flowers of many colours and shades. Canada’s multicultural society should also be developed in this manner. Earth, sky, air, water - they all belong to all of us who live on this planet earth. People who discriminate in the name of languages or religion Paul Dhillon deals with them with tough measures:
What you have divided, in languages religions and races
is this sky not belonging to all of us friends ?
Believer of peoples unity, worshipper of world peace, critical of war mongers, supporter of multi-culturalism, supporter of equal rights of man and woman, critical of religious fundamentalist terrorists and tyrannical rulers - Paul Dhillon is a conscious Canadian Punjabi poet.
By publishing ‘Dishade Ton Paar’ ghazal collection Paul Dhillon has enriched the ghazal writing field of Canadian Punjabi literature. While writing ghazals Paul Dhillon tries to be fully aware that his ghazals are balanced in form as well as in content. His such characteristics of a ghazal writer makes him a successful ghazal writer. For writing such a worthwhile ghazal collection, i congratulate Paul Dhillon.
(Malton, September 18, 2008)
Paul Dhillon’s name could be considered among the finest punjabi ghazal writers of Canada. He is a poet of gentle dialogue. He understands life. As a ghazal writer he makes it sure that his ghazal stanzas are balanced from the point of view of form as well as content.
Reading of the ghazal collection ‘Dishade Ton Paar’ (Beyond the Horizon) gives a feeling that Paul Dhillon not only makes issues related to human life as the subject matter of his ghazals; rather, he also makes flowers, trees, plants, streams & rivers as his subject matter too. In today’s world a conscious writer understands that you cannot separate the man from his environment. We are now facing the consequences for ignoring this fact for centuries. Poisonous gases emitted from the chimneys of the factories owned by greedy men are polluting the environment. Thick forests were cut and burnt in the stoves. Plants & flowers were mixed in pasture for the animals. As a consequence of showing such irresponsibility towards the environment we are facing global warming today. We are facing severe storms; hurricanes are inflicting heavy destruction; rivers are flooded; areas of thousands of miles is becoming desert. To stop this and to create a balance in our environment, we will have to develop once again friendship with our surroundings. Once again we will have to decorate our surroundings with flowers and plants. Paul Dhillon also thinks in the same manner about the mutual relationships of man and plants and flowers in his surroundings:
There is only this much of difference
between me and a tree
it is still at one place
but i am moving sitting and standing
Plants and trees not only make our surroundings beautiful, they also help us in clearing the air in our surroundings. This is the reason today this slogan is echoing around the globe that there is only one thing ‘greenery’ in our surroundings which can help us in controlling the increasing number of problems on our planet earth. Friends of earth are echoing the slogan of ‘green revolution’. If the greenery will increase on earth then the environment will have more moisture. This will not only lower the rising temperature of earth; it will also put a stop on the increasing desert area.
Along with creating consciousness about the environment Paul Dhillon also uses source of life sun as a symbol of light of knowledge and science in the stanzas of his ghazals:
Mirrors taking sun out of their lives
will remain in darkness for ever
This is how he has used ‘darkness’ and ‘light’ as symbols in his ghazals:
If there is darkness surrounding us
there will be sadness everywhere
solution of sadness lies
in our progressive awakening
By putting a question mark in front of the value system of today’s way of life Paul Dhillon talks about the arrival of great men such as Mohammed, Buddha & Nanak in the history of the human civilization on our planet earth . They spent all their lives to enlighten the masses and make this life more livable. Such great men made betterment of the lives of the humanity as the motive of their lives. They had no place in their lives for personal egos. This is the reason that even after centuries those great men have their followers in millions in number and they are spread in every corner of the world. But today’s man who is full of ego and for whom ‘I’ is the only thing that is important in life - is anxious to get ahead in life by trampling everyone under his feet - whosoever comes in his way. Paul Dhillon is also experiencing the same kind of feeling, thats why he says:
Mohammed, Buddha, Nanak have been forgotton by everybody
in today’s world everyone is Abdali, Sikander
As he talks about the present day world, Paul Dhillon also draws our attention towards another thing. People are not happy from inside but they are trying to show that they are happy by putting fake smiles on their faces. Perhaps, it shows the reality of our times that now faked things are getting more importance than the real things in our lives. But this is also a reality that you can make artificial flowers as much beautiful as you want, but they will never be able to give fragrance. Let us read more stanzas from the ghazals of the poet Paul Dhillon to understand his such kind of thought processing in his poetry:
1. Sadness on their faces
but they are singing songs of joy
with artificial fragrance
i am seeing people satisfying themselves
2. We are living in strange times
at every place in every direction
artificial fragrance is
piercing our breath
3. Artificial flowers will remain artificial forever
sprinkle them with perfume or fill them with any color
Man has made a great progress in the fields of knowledge/science/technology in the twentieth century. With great progress made in the means of transportation world has become like a village. Distance of thousands of miles can be completed in hours. With the help of internet and wireless technology, we can send/receive our messages in seconds. Completing a distance of millions of miles man has put his mark his footsteps on the surface of moon too and now he is dreaming to reach to other planets of our solar system. Despite making so much progress in the areas of knowledge/technology man is still backward so far as the fields of culture and religion are concerned. Even today, people are killing each other in the name of religion, caste or status in the society. In the name of religion rivers of human blood are rolling on this earth. Present day fundamentalist religious leaders are poisoning brains of innocent men & women with their religious propaganda full of hate and discrimination to excite them to kill innocent people of other religions and cultures. Such irresponsible religious leaders show them dreams of flirting in their lives after death with virgins and destroy their lives by making them serial killers. But Paul Dhillon is portraying very intelligently and effectively this great tragedy of post-modern times through his following stanzas of his ghazals:
1. Friends, people who are here ignorant of knowledge
seeds of hatred are being sowed in their hearts
2. ‘Anybody who will die for religion will be bestowed with nymphs’
their hearts are filled with such lies
3. ‘Flow blood in the name of religion he is being taught
how to become a human bomb is being shown to him
4. ‘Kill in the name of God’ kill the innocent
such a lesson in the name of religion is being taught these days
After reading ‘Dishade Ton Paar’ poetry collection, one gets the impression that Paul Dhillon keeps the canvas of his ghazals very big. Politics, religion, culture, economics, education, environment, philosophy - every field of life could become a subject matter of his ghazals. He also understands this thing very well that as a means of communication language in itself is not complete. In many instances when words fail to communicate something, silence of man becomes successful in communication of that fact. Silence has its own language. This is the reason when people suddenly become silent we make an estimate that they are busy in conspiring or when there is sudden stillness in the environment, leaves of trees stop moving we predict that soon storm is coming. Talk of such limitations of language and the need to go beyond the words can also be experienced in the following stanzas of Paul Dhillon’s poetry:
1. I have followed what was in his heart
though his lips remained mum from uttering a single word
2. Sad faces are showing grievance very visibly
every vision is fixed, it is the conspiracy of the silence
3. Even the walls have ears, think about this
initiate a dialogue, but slowly slowly
4. I was able to follow everything, that was in the heart
though, the lips didn’t murmur even a single word
In our times when every sector of life is in chaos, we must welcome the writings of those writers in the Canadian punjabi literary world who want to see the principles which donot favour any kind of discrimination based on religion, color, race, caste or gender. A society in which people belonging to different cultures would be blooming together like flowers of many colours and shades. Canada’s multicultural society should also be developed in this manner. Earth, sky, air, water - they all belong to all of us who live on this planet earth. People who discriminate in the name of languages or religion Paul Dhillon deals with them with tough measures:
What you have divided, in languages religions and races
is this sky not belonging to all of us friends ?
Believer of peoples unity, worshipper of world peace, critical of war mongers, supporter of multi-culturalism, supporter of equal rights of man and woman, critical of religious fundamentalist terrorists and tyrannical rulers - Paul Dhillon is a conscious Canadian Punjabi poet.
By publishing ‘Dishade Ton Paar’ ghazal collection Paul Dhillon has enriched the ghazal writing field of Canadian Punjabi literature. While writing ghazals Paul Dhillon tries to be fully aware that his ghazals are balanced in form as well as in content. His such characteristics of a ghazal writer makes him a successful ghazal writer. For writing such a worthwhile ghazal collection, i congratulate Paul Dhillon.
(Malton, September 18, 2008)
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