POETRY IN CONFRONTATION WITH LIFE'S REALITIES

Writer: Sukhinder
Sukhminder Rampuri is a conscious poet. His recently published ghazal (sonnet) collection book ‘Eh Saffar Jari Rahe’ (This Journey Must Continue) has given me such an impression about his poetic abilities.
Sukhminder Rampuri cannot be included among those ghazal writers for whom merely counting of words in a poetic stanza is everything so far as the craft of ghazal writing is concerned. His poetry is in direct confrontation with life’s realities. In every stanza of his ghazals, he introduces a new subject. I call his poetry as the poetry of ideas. I will not hesitate even to call him as a people’s poet. Because in his poems, he talks about the people’s struggles and a need for a life time commitment from the masses to continue such struggles.
In his ghazal collection ‘Eh Saffar Jari Rahe’ Rampuri has used his experiences of living in India, where he has spent most of his life time, as his subject matter for his poems. However, in these ghazals he has also made use of his experiences he has newly gained while living in Canada after migrating here only couple of years ago.
The very first thing which impresses one while reading his ghazals is the fact that instead of confusing his readers by using heavy loaded words, he talks about problems and issues faced by the common masses in a very simple and ordinary terms. In these ghazals, he also talks very explicitly when he talks about the forces responsible for generating such problems in our society. These issues could be political, social, religious, cultural or economic he has always a good grasp of all the situations.
The great Indian martyrs such as Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Shaheed Udham Singh, Madan Lal Dhingra, Chander Shekhar Azad and thousands of other freedom fighter revolutionaries had sacrificed their lives for the freedom of India. But it makes him sad to see that now morally corrupt and hollow men are holding political power in India. They are not only destroying themselves with their disgraceful acts, they are destroying millions of other people in India too:
Rampuri portrays such ideas in his poetry with a grace:
Those who are shamelessly indulging
in scandal after scandal
write me in detail, about such patriots
But Rampuri also makes this thing crystal clear to the readers of his poetry that he will not single out any one political party for displaying such rogue behaviour; rather, he blames all the political parties for making a mess of the political system:
It used to be one or two pieces of stone in a dish
but now, the whole dish is full of stones
Reading of Rampuri’s ghazals gives such a feeling as if he is fighting an armed struggle. But in this war his weapons are his explosive poetic stanzas which explode like grenades in the consciousness of his readers.
Almost four decades ago, ghazal writers belonging to different writers’ camps had a heated discussion through the public media about the craft of ghazal writing. Some of these ghazal writers were of the view that it is of writers’ utmost significance to pay attention towards the meter, rhyme and rhythm while writing a ghazal; while ghazal writers belonging to other camp believed that the real thing of significance in the craft of ghazal writing is the presentation of an idea and not the meter or rhythm. In ghazals of many poets it is hard to find a single idea. They merely pile up poetry stanzas full of musical words to create a poetic rhyme and rhythm. But on the other hand ideas embellished in every stanza of Rampuri’s ghazals gives a jolt to the consciousness of his readers.
In his ghazal collection ‘Eh Saffar Jari Rahe’ Rampuri has introduced many subject areas. In his ghazals, he scolds the superpower America for initiating wars in every nook and corner of the globe by sending its invading army. In these ghazals, he also talks about the religious institutions which have become hideouts for the murderers, gangsters, rapists, drug dealers and fundamentalist religious terrorists responsible for spreading terrorism around the world. Portrayal of such ideas in Rampuri’s ghazals gets our special attraction:
1. Every bit of our earth is crying in pain
who will dare to give her encouragement
our tears are falling like rain drops of fire
who will come to wipe them from our eyes
2. Murderers are emerging from gurdawaras, mosques
trail of murder ends in a temple
3. For its own needs it lets people get killed
the whole world knows
whenever, they felt its need
they started a war for their market expansion
4. Charity box, charity box, charity box, charity box only
what else was ever at the root cause of our feuds
Real strength of Rampuri’s ghazals lies in the fact that being a realist he never limits himself merely to portray the phenomenon of the human day to day world events; rather, unlike many other post-modern poets, he presents these events after passing them through his analytical eyes. Like a surgeon, he disects and studies very carefully each and every situation before he comes out with his opinion about the forces responsible for generating these phenomenon. Here are some pieces of his ghazals verifying this fact:
1. Now, every kind of intoxicant is freely available
it is available now day and night
they are distributing it like free food
write me about this extraordinary act
2. They divide us in small fragments
and exploit us without any fear
our segmented thinking could not
understand their game, write me about this
3. How many schools have been shut down
and replaced with liquor stores
how much countryside has changed
write me in minute detail
4. Look ! what the protector of Lincoln’s house is uttering today
he desires to have his sole property rights over the burning pyres
5. In this Lanka of gold, faces have faked smiles
below these smiles, are sadness, frustrations and defeats
Root cause of many problems in our society is the gender unequality. In man dominated society women are getting raped, they are suppressed and treated like dirt. But Rampuri speaks in favour of the gender equality in our society:
1. In this man dominated society, it was I who lost every time
think about it for a moment and analyze it
help me to get over this blame
showered on me for ever, for my defeats
2. Help me to enjoy my celebrations without any fear
Free me from fears on my mind of falling in love
3. None of our dreams we dreamt was ever fulfilled
help me today, to be free for ever
from the burden of their incompleteness
Are these ghazals (sonnets) included in this collection ‘Eh Saffar Jari Rahe’ (This Journey Must Continue) good for singing purposes also? I cannot certify this idea for sure. But I can say this thing for sure and without any hesitation that these ghazals are good for reading and full of ideas. I also feel justified to say that while writing these ghazals Sukhminder Rampuri remained a true son of earth and he has beautifully portrayed in these ghazals concerns of the common men and women. In these ghazals, he talks about their desires and wishes, achievements and frustrations, pains and sufferings of the common people. My best wishes are with Sukhminder Rampuri for writing such beautiful pieces of peoples poetry which has the power to generate a healthy debate in the minds of its readers to build a healthy and livable world for all of us on this planet earth.
(Malton, September 9, 2008)