Books Review in Detail
Review Of Poetic Flavour of K. V. Dominic–Article by Dr. Arbind Kumar Choudhary
Poetic Flavour of K. V. Dominic
Poetic   Flavour of K. V. Dominic
Arbind Kumar Choudhary
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R. K. Singh,    D. C. Chambial,     K. V. Raghupati,  Mahashweta   Chaturvedi ,  Rita   Nath   Keshri,  Aju    Mukhopadhayay,  Harish   Thakur,  P. Raja, Jasvinder   Singh,  Anil    Kumar   Sharma,  C. L. Khatri,   B. K. Dubey,  K. V. Dominic  and   several   others   have  been   glittering  in  the  sky  of  the creative   world  with  a   number  of   poetry   collections  to  their  credits.  K. V.  Dominic is   a    poet, a   critic, a short story writer  and,   above  all, editor of International Journal on Multicultural Literature (IJML), a   refereed journal  of   global  repute. International    Poets   Academy, Chennai   has conferred  upon   him  ‘Lifetime   Achievement   Award’   for   his  dedication   to  literature,  peace  and   global  harmony.   Dr. Dominic  is  the founder   secretary   of  Guild of Indian English Writers Editors and Critics and the editor-in-chief of Writers Editors Critics, an international refereed binaural journal. He is also the Vice–President of   International  Association   of   Poets,  Essayists   and   Novelists,    Bihar,  and  member of   the advisory committees of a   number  of    journals    and   literary   organizations.
What  appeals   his  poetry   to  the  muse lovers  is   his  candid   expression, simple  language,   mind  blowing  thought,   and  innovative   ideas that   provokes  the    imagination   of  the  muse lovers  to  its   utmost  degrees.  His    dedication   to serve    the   humanity   for   its    prosperity through  the   poems  reserves   his  berth   in   the  temple  of   fame   across   the    globe. His  minute  observation,   skilled   presentation, provoking   painting   and   appealing    realism    make   him   a   great   poet   of   Indian   English  literature. His  poetic    prosperity   will  be   proved a   milestone   in  the   poetic   world   of  Indian   English   poetry.
Plants and animals never divide
the earth  among  themselves;
What right has the moral man
to divide  and  own  this  immortal   planet?
(Dominic, Winged Reason 36-37)
Like  D. C. Chambial,    Dominic  opines  that  all  living   beings  except  human beings  can  never   think  of   the   earthly  division. But   human beings,   though being  the  wisest   creature,  try   to  divide   the  immortal  planet. Ironically  the mortal  beings  divide  the  immortal  planet. Plants and   animals  grow and blossom  for  our  sake. We, people, grow  for   our  sake   only. What  a  surprising irony  it is!  All  natural  things are   the  sources  of   our  livelihood  and  pleasure.
The dancing of the plant;
the smiling  of  the  flower;
the chirping  of  the  bird;
and all  merry  cries  of  other beings,
herald Life’s  march  here.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 29)
The   dancing    of  the  plants, the  fragrance   of  the   flowers, and  the   chirping of   the   birds  provide   intense   joy   to  its  utmost   degrees  in our  life. Like D. V. Sahani,  K.V. Dominic  finds  the  plants, the  animals   and  other  beings more conducive   to   the   human   beings. D. V. Sahani sings:
Make  every thing  in  Nature  your  friend.
It won’t let you down in your need.
It will give you the very best in it
And with raptures of ecstasy
Your being feed. (53)
All   natural   objects  are    for    men’s     use. The  plant   gives   fruits, the   flower gives    fragrance, the  bird  gives   melodious  song   and  the animal   gives  milk   for   our   livelihood. Man  must  have   friendship   with   these   objects   and   make  the  earth   a   better   place   to live in.
My dear son, live in Karma,
love all  creations,
for I  am  in  everything.
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 96)
God   is   considered   to  be   the  most  powerful   being   of  the   universe. But   God has  himself   become     helpless  for   his   children. Human beings   have   disobeyed   their  parent   and    are  madly  engaged   in   annihilation. God  instructs   us   to  love   one  another   because  he  lies everywhere   in  all   things. To   Choudhary,  God  is  a  saving   grace  for  those  burning   in  furnace. It is  said  that  God  helps    those   who help only   themselves. The  plants,  and  the  animals   complain   against   the   human   beings, the   worst   crooked   creature  who  cut  the  plants and   eat  the   flesh  of   the  animals. In    the  court   of   God,  human   beings   have  become     culprit . The  poet   writes:
Petitions come to me
one  after  another
from plants  and  animals.
All complain of
your cruelty  and  torture:
they have   no  food;
they have  no water;
they have  no shelter;
and not  even  air.
They plead  to me
to call your back;
save their  lives,
and thus  save  the  planet.
Kindly tell me, children,
what shall  I  do?
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 64-65)
The   poet  ridicules   the  modern   race   here:                                                              Â
Man, you are the cruelest,
you are the most ungrateful
of all God’s creations.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 25)
Man   is   the    prize  idiot   of  the  earth. All   objects   of   Nature  follow natural   code  of  conduct. Men  have   become  the   most  ungrateful creatures   of all   God’s  creations   because   they   destroy   jungles,  kill   the   mute   animals   and   eat   their  flesh  and  establish  their  own jungle   Raj   by   replacing    natural code    of   conduct. God   made  the   earth    and   men  made  the    country. God  made    men   and   men    made    caste, religion  and   nation. Surprisingly,   men,  being  a  minority   amidst  all   living   beings, rule   over  the  majority  without   fear. Men do not  follow  the   universal   democratic   code  of   conduct   on  this  earth.
What right has the mortal man
to divide  and  own  this  immortal  planet ?
What justice is there for the minority
to starve  the  majority?
(Dominic, Winged Reason 37)
The poet opines his philosophy of  beauty in this  stanza:
Bodily beauty is only one among the beauties;
It fades and decays as a flower does.
Who thinks of a flower when it is decayed?
The sun is beautiful but can you enjoy it at noon?
The objects of nature reveal its radiance and beauty.
Eternal beauty is in achievements eternal.
Handsome is he who handsome does.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 28)
Beauty  has    remained the  source  of  pleasure    from    times   immemorial. To   Keats, “a  thing   of beauty  is a joy forever.†To  Dominic “Handsome  is  he  who  handsome  does.†To D. V. Sahani
Real beauty is not of
complexion, form  or  face.
But of that state of mind
In which ego does itself efface
which is verily love
which come from God’s grace
which make everything beautiful
and our life on earth blissful. (53)
To Dominic,  physical    beauty is  for   the  time  being  that  blossoms   and decays  as   a  flower    does. The   beauty  of  the  sun  reveals  its  radiance. All things  have  their    own  merits  and     demerits,  fragrances    and     ill-smelling.  Internal  beauty  is   forever. Like  Mahashweta Chaturvedi,    Dominic   paints   a  terrible   picture   of  the   fair sex  who  has   been   treated    as    an  instrument   of lust and   sex  rather  than the    counterpart. No   one   tries   to   peep  into  women’s   heart   and  mind. None   takes    notice  of   her  desires  moods, minds   and  feelings.
Women is the game!
Birth to death,
an instrument of lust
and hot-selling sex!
(Dominic, Winged Reason 42)
Like  Kamala   Das,   Dominic has   presented   a   gloomy  picture  of  women  community   that  require   right   and   liberty in our male  dominated  society.
Unfortunate crow feeds cuckoo’s chicks;
yet crow is not lauded
and cuckoo is extolled.
Crow’s counterpart dove;
icon of love and innocence.
Why is white attractive
and black disgusting?
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 57)
Ironically  the black and white colour   have  been  designed  as   a  symbol  of   bad   and   good   by the   scholars. The   fair-comflexioned   bride   is preferred  to    black. The  crow, an   icon   of   love  and  innocence, feeds   cuckoo’s chicks, yet crow  is  not  lauded. The   poet  raises  a   question regarding   the superiority   of   white   over   black   and, lastly, advocates  that  handsome   is  that handsome    does.
Intellectual mafia
assumes omniscient;
exploits innocent people;
detracts them
from their creator;
makes them pessimists;
imposes their
obsolete philosophies.
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 37)
Politics  is   the  root   cause   of   all  our   sufferings. The  nexus  between the   politician, the  criminal  and  the  bureaucrat has   made   our   life hellish   on this   garden  of    God. Like  Daruwalla, Choudhary, and    Chaturvedi,    Dominic believes  that the  dirty   political  game  has  made  our life   worse   than  curse. All  those   who  are  innocents   or  ignorant   are  befooled  by  the  politicians  in the   name  of   prosperity  of the   race, religion  and   region. Choudhary  ridicules the   political    mafia   in   his   My Songs:
A wolf in sheep’s clothing
Sheds crocodile tears for the suffering.
O Â Blood sucker of the sufferer!
Your name is Leader. (18)
Poverty and   unemployment are our enemy.  Ignorance  is our foe.                                Â
Isn’t poverty the greatest enemy?
Why not fight against it
and wipe  out  destitution,
pointing guns,  rifles  and  missiles
at the  chest  of  the  poor?
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 66)
People   claim, condemn,  and   kill  each  other  on   the  name  of   injustice  and  inhumanity. Our   worst  enemy    is   our  ignorance, not the other beings. Our worst  enemies    that   are   poverty,  false  notion, ego, unemployment   etc.  flourish at  the  chest   of  the  poor . The  atomic  and other   destructive  weapons   are made  on   the   name   of   security, humanity   and   prosperity   at  the  cost of the advancement   of  the  poor and the   exploited. Hence the   poet   appeals   God  for instruction  and  guidance.
God, teach me how to detach;
and also teach my neighbours
and millions of my brothers and sisters
to show love and mercy
to all non-human beings.
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 52)
Aung San Suu Kyi, Asian Nelson Mandela, is  the  epitome  of   valour  who embraced   a   hellish  life   and  solitary  confinement  for   the  liberation of  the masses  from  the  dark  kingdom  of  the   dictator. Her  slogan  of  liberty  by adopting   Gandhi’s   doctrine  begged   Nobel Prize   for peace  and   stirred  the fire   of   liberation  for   humanity, honesty and  harmony.
Suu Kyi, the  epitome of   valour,
showed her people through her life
liberty is born from the ashes of fear.
Her  twenty  years of  political  life;
more than  fourteen  in  solitary  cells.
(Dominic, Write Son, Write 53)
The Nobel   Laureate   Suu  Kyi   moulded   the   generation  for   peace, prosperity   and  pure  life. The  poet  glorifies   her   sacrifice   whole   heartedly.
The sun of knowledge
can never be eclipsed
by the  moon  of  ignorance.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 67)
Knowledge  is  our  best   friend   while  ignorance  is  our  worst  enemy. People  fall  into  misfortune   for  want  of  knowledge. The  light  of   the  sun enlightens  the   world  that   can rarely  be  eclipsed. The   moon of ignorance blossoms for want of the sun of knowledge. The   poet appeals to get more and more   knowledge to quench the   kingdom     of    ignorance. The  poet   is   optimistic that    sooner      or  later   the   sun of  knowledge   will   replace the   moon of   ignorance    for     the   restoration   of  the  kingdom  of   love, peace    and   universal   brotherhood.
Om is our breath;
a tonic to mind and body.
It’s   a celestial music
showering  manna  on  the  earth;
it gives  us  peace  and  happiness;
Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 66)
The   poet   wishes  to  fly  like   an  angel  to  instil   humanism in  the  communal    minds   and   also  wishes  to   replace   the   vicious  circle   for   favour   of  the  kingdom   of    wisdom. Like   an   angel,   the   poet’s    ardent  desire   is  to  revive  the   kingdom   of   wisdom  for   the  prosperity,    peace   and   universal   brotherhood. It  is   also the  duty of    the   poet   to   make  life   fragrant  for  all    those  who  suffer  from the   cruel  hands   of    tyranny, and   inhumanity.
If I could fly like an angel,
would   plead  all   prophets
to inspire   and   instil    humanism
in   million’s   communal minds.
I would   meet Gandhi too
who is weeping at his shattered dreams.
(Dominic, Winged Reason 21)
C. L. Khatri’s    verse, “Godsey killed you once / They kill you everyday†(30       ) finds    a   great     resemblance with   these  lines  because   Gandhi’s  dreams  of  Ram Rajya   has   already   been  the   story  of  the    past  rather  than   the  present.
K. V. Dominic  is  the   burning  voice  of   Indian    English    poetry  who has    been     perfuming   the  poetic   scenario  from  a    decade  with his melodious song, fragrant    feeling, racy  style, capital  ideas, and   philosophical  views. Like R. K. Singh, D. C. Chambial, R. N. Sinha,   Dominic  is   the  roaring   voice  of  the   creative   milieu   who  has  become  a  twinkling  star  in   the  sky  of   the   creative  world and  has   also  been  promoting   the   peeping    poets   for  poetic  perfection, prosperity    and    peace. His   forceful  voice   will   remain  ever  ringing  in  the   womb  of  time.
Works Cited
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Choudhary, A. K. My Songs. Begusarai, Bihar: IAPEN, 2008. Print.
Dominic, K.V. Winged   Reason. New Delhi: Authorspress, 2010. Print.
—. Write Son, Write. New Delhi: Gnosis, 2011. Print.
Khatri, C. L.   Ripples in the Lake. Bareily: Prakash Book Depot, 2006. Print.
Sahani, D. V. Whispering   Silence. Gwalior: Amrit Prakashan, 2005. Print.
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Dr. Arbind Kumar Choudhary, English poet &critic, is the Head of the Department of English, Rangachahi College, Majuli, Assam, India-785104. He is the editor of the research journals, Kohinoor (ISSN 0973-6395) & Ayush (ISSN 0974-8075).