Indian Poetry in English carries a rich tradition, ancient I and modern, and it has all the charms of a variety that characterizes Indian culture and civilization. Salman Rushdie has rightly claimed in his Imaginary Homelands: "Commonwealth Literature Does not exist". He obviously means the loss of power in the Queen, because English now belongs to all. Many, like me, believe that the creative use of the language is best seen in India, from Sri Aurobindo down to Ezekiel, Dilip Chitre and Vikram Seth. Apart from his more than 50,000 lines of lyric, epic, dramatic lyrics and narrative poems, Sri Aurobindo is the writer of the longest blank verse epic in English(23.813 lines), which is unapproachably far away from any English poet of the highest grade. Dr. Karmakar has done well to include him in his anthology, showing a changed attitude to the master. He must be congratulated for this advanced awareness and his feel for the deeper Indian stuff.
Thanks must also go to the editor for his variety in the selection of poets and contributors who have diligently worked on the poets and their poems and I'm sure this will only help our dear students, who are often baffled in the absence of genuine critical works on the poets in a single volume. Who would have thought of poor Dom Moraes, who is a neglected genius still? New essays on Kamala Das, Ezekiel, Mahapatra and Agha Shahid Ali will be a great news in our academic circles. The poets chosen express different Indian sensibilities projecting the city and the village as well. We need new observations on these famous modern Indian poets and on the newer ones spoken of by expert hands.
Mr. Karmakar has shown his warm generosity by accepting contributions from various institutions and this has only enriched the anthology. Thanks once again to the Editor for his magnanimity.
Indian literature is a dynamic phenomenon enriched by I diverse array of writers. Since Vedic times, the literary stalwarts have depicted the soul of the Indian subcontinent in various forms and colours. With the British invasion and consequent English education, the Indian writers have expressed themselves in a foreign tongue and over the years adapted to the changing dynamics of national social linguistic landscape. Decades after aligning themselves with what in pre-independence era remained a ruler's language; today it has become a legitimate medium to meaningfully communicate to the world.
Medium, honestly speaking, remains a matter of inner compulsion and no writing can be a good one if it distorts the truth, inhibits response and does not create what in reality it pretends to delineate. In the early years of the Indian literature in English, it was poetry more than any other genres which attracted the writers most. The writing of English verse proved to be the first response that India gave to the world after the introduction of English into the education system. From the very beginning the diverse socio-linguistic make-up of the India make Indian poetry in English a significant occurrence. Building a bridge between South and North India, at national level and the East and the West at large, the poetry written by the Indians in English in the last 175 years or more may be divided into two periods, namely Pre-Independence period (1820 to 1947/50) and Post-Independence period (1950-). Further, post-independence period can be sub-categorized as Modern period (1950-80) and Post-Modern period, from the late 1980s. Theme-wise the Indian poetry in English can be said to have three phases, namely the Imitative, the Assimilative and the Experimental. The period from 1850 to 1900 is the imitative period because Indian poets then imitated the British romantic poets like Shelly, Keats, Byron and Wordsworth. After 1900, Indian poets began to assimilate the romanticism of the early 19th century poets and the New Romantics of the decaying period and thus they tried to express the consciousness of the Indian renaissance between political changes and nationalism which finally led to the independence in 1947.
At its initial stage, the Indian poetry in English came under the influence of British poets resulting in the lack of individuality and identity of Indian poets in English. But an unmistakable authenticity of feelings is clearly visible in their poems. The first and second phrases of Indian poetry were largely an urban phenomenon cantered in Calcutta. It can be said that by a few Calcutta-based Bengali families the poetry was nourished. Afterwards, the focus shifted to Bombay and Madras. Hence, the Indian poetry in English remained largely urban. The period of literary renaissance can be taken as the first phase of Indian poetry in English. Derozio's Poems, Michael Madhusudan Dutta's The Captive Lady, Kashiprasad Ghosh's The Shair or Minstrel and other poems and Manmohan Ghosh's Love Songs and Elegies are a testimony to the creative upsurge kindled by the literary renaissance. Toru Dutt is one such poet whose poems show the Indianness on a large scale. The poets of the second phase, namely Sarojini Naidu, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, Rabindranath Tagore and Aurobindo Ghosh were still romantic in nature but their works were coupled with mysticism, nationalism and spirituality. This phase was somewhat different from the first phase because Indian romanticism began to flow here. While Tagore was in search of beauty in Nature and Human, Aurobindo was in search of Divine in Man. Sarojini Naidu in a romantic way portrayed Indian life, customs and surroundings.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist