Dwelling with Denial: A Collection of Poems by Rajiv Khandelwal

ISBN: 978-93-89213-19-5, The Poetry Society Of India, 2020 p. 130

 Reviewed by Pravat Kumar Padhy, Poetcrit, July 2021

Rajiv has a unique way of writing poetry manifesting the contemporary structural fabric. He is spontaneous to express the inner feeling and his poetry often forms a dialogue-style with words of frankness. In the present collection, ‘Dwelling with Denial’, he has portrayed broadly the topics related to social issues with political satires at places. Some of his poems included in the collection broadly sketch the poet’s urge for love and carry the glimpses of sensual streaks. He is often optimistic in his approach and occasionally dwells in the cradle of pessimism. Perhaps he wishes to put the point of view straight and forthwith as has been observed with uneven line breaks and without any punctuation.

Similarly, the persistence of socio-political and socio-economical evils frustrates him and compels him to dwell in spite of strong resistance. This might have led the poet to appropriately title the collection of verses.  Towards the end, he engages himself composition of analytical poetic exhibitions about the poet, poetry, and its content.

Interestingly, Rajiv has tried to use poetic devices in an artful style. The use of word-phrases, sound repetition, similes, metaphor, and allegorical expressions has added beauty to the collection.

He has used beautiful and stimulating words as ‘like evaporation of faith,’ ‘blind person’s yearning for eyesight,’   ‘As silent as our shadows,’ ‘Baggage of thoughts,’ ‘arsenic eyes,’ ‘Ice-hard resolutions,’ ‘As dry as the desert sands,’ ‘clothes of understanding,’ ‘quicksand of crazy,’ ‘corrosive thoughts,’ ‘wide-eyed realization,’ ‘thick fog of lust,’ ‘thirsty tree leaves,’ ‘keening cry,’ ‘Tongue-tied.’ Indeed these are worthy examples to contemporary literature.

Poetic craftsmanship and the use of figures of speech have been often observed in his poetry with nuanced techniques. The use of similes such as “Our eyes locked/ Like insects in amber”  (‘Another Wait’); “Like the whisper of a sleeping child”  (‘Call You Later’);  “That I missed her/ Like fish missing water……Like parched earth missing/ Raindrops/ In rain forests” (‘In Rain Forests’). At places, Rajiv uses

musicality with the use of alliteration like ‘stern signature stare,’ ‘prying pedestrian peek,’ ‘unwisely unafraid, clock’s click clack’ etc.

Occasionally he has crafted a few metaphorical articulations such as: 

In my life

She is the cloud

Without which there can be no rain      (‘My Wife’)

 

 And my thoughts

Roam aimlessly like a typical window-shopper       (‘Wandering Thoughts’)

Rajiv is forthcoming in his expression with poetic diction as observed in the poem, ‘Petition’. The textual fabric of expression in the poem demonstrates a distinct literary accomplishment as he appeals with optimism in spite of all odds:

Requesting a stay order

On the cancer gnawing away my vitals 

 

Today, the red flag from the doctors

Revealed

My petition has been rejected

The gods have not commuted the death sentence

……………………..

……………………..

Bring faith and joy 

As I wait

Hot, wet and not weary

To give you pleasures

Beyond measures 

Come before the glass hour sands drop down

Terrorism and heinous disturbances have been sketched in some of the poems. He is very much disturbed by the plight of ‘Pulwama’ attack and condemns the dreadful act by the terrorists:

 

I have  

Against the vulture

That sweeps down my garden

Every afternoon

Since “Pulwama” attack

 

While it ought to be dive bombing

 

With its flock

To feast

Across the LOC          (‘To The Pilots Who Visited Balakot’)

The poet engages himself in the corridor of love as observed in the poem, ‘Another Wait’, ‘Union’, ‘Dear Mate’, ‘A Dilemma’, ‘Call You Later’, ‘When She Is Around’, ‘The Suckables’, ‘Her Hands’, ‘A Backward Glance’, ‘My Darling’, ‘The Rain Forests’. The love poems are expressions of more visual manifestation and prosaic narration. Sometimes the images are infused with poetic elusiveness. The poet paints the touch of sensual feeling through crafted style:

The fourth ring

Satisfying to the mind as water to thirsty lips

Came like the bride carrying thoughts of budding love     (‘Call You Later’)

 

The sound of her voice

Her facial features

Her youthfulness

Her curves                             

               All a magic ticket

                                        A spy-hole into dreams   (‘When She Is Around’)

 Thoughts

That fed of each other

                                 Let loose

 

Were up all night

Painting the town red   (‘Her Hands’)

The poet is very sensitive to the prevailing social issues. He described the heinous plight of human trafficking, the painful life of the victim, and her expression out of anguish in the poem, ‘Pain Desiring Understanding’. 

 

Let your mother, sister, daughter

Or say your wife

Let them just merely imagine

Living my life, a single day

Like a piece of meat

                          

Only then, dare to   

Point moral compass towards us 

He has carefully touched the poverty, socio-economic, socio-political, and religious aspects in the poems like ‘The Debt’, ‘Dwelling with Denial’, ‘Guilty’, ‘Echo’, ‘The Kick’ and ‘Life As Usual on This Road’.

In the poem, ‘The Kick’, the poet allegorically portrays the contemporary images corroborating the social issue. It is a masterpiece of socio-sensibility.

The pothole

Took the kicks

Silently and with surrender

Just like the untouchables

Taking it

Since ages 

In the poem, ‘Life As Usual on This Road’ he portrays the road in a metaphorical sense and depicts the images of social condition:

 This was common place

It was life as usual on this road

 ‘Leave Some Words Unsaid’ is a poem that has quite similar in style to Ezekiel’s  ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ The emotional expression has been depicted in the verse:

 

Dear All

Let us leave some emotions and feelings unexpressed

Some words are best left unsaid                          

For no words can express how much you mean to us

May God bless you and make you ageless       

He laments the persistence of evils in society and portrays satire in his poem, ‘The Poem Unborn’. It is an eye-opener for all responsible citizens to rebuild society with modesty, decency, and mutual respect.

But each night

The unfinished tired poem

 

Goes to bed

With the pen

 

To wake up once again

To the same mundane routine

Childhood memories in the close-knitted family have been vividly narrated in verses like ‘Mother in Our Joint Family’, ‘Preschooler’s Conversation with Granddad and others. In the poem, ‘Destination’, the poet recalls childhood school and its plight in the complexity of modern life.

In the poem, ‘Critical Comments’, he concludes the verse with the touch of emotional childhood reminiscences:

 

“Nana – you do not know how to tell a story

I am leaving

                 Nani is better ”

His narration in the poem ‘Mother in Our Joint Family’ is heart-touching. He emotionally scripts:

When will I

Have the landscape of my mind   

Colored green

And do

What you do

Without complaints?   

He is good at unveiling the club-culture and extravaganza through satire by comparing it with modern jean-design and beggar’s cloth to reflect the prevalence of the contrasting societies as reflected in the poem, ‘Pleading in a Dubai Club’ and ended with a carelessness under the influence of modernity.

Some in designer slit jeans competing with a beggar’s clothing

……………….

……………….

Don’t-care-who-watches-me

Opening back to youth

 

Escapism

             Oxytocin released

Had unbridled fun

Until the small hours of the morning

Similarly how the use of modern gadgets, social sites have isolated everyone has been depicted in the poem, ‘Dreamy Expectation’.

 He wishes poetry to be a language of all entities and it needs to connect with the readers for better communication to build a tangible base.

And the magic of language compressed

Endlessly scrutable

Becomes a living entity

                                  Syllables and sutras come alive    

Connect

Grow within the reader     (‘A Successful Poet’)

 

Memories

Are familiar companions

A part of our lives

……………..

……………..

Emerging out of the blue

Through individual words

Picks and puts them next to one another

And the words fit in

Like bricks in their mortar base    (‘Poem-The Arrival’)

He defines the assimilation of self and the essence of the poem for crafting the elusive poetic insight.

And finds his own self

In the poem’s narrative

Then the poem

Can honestly claim

To be owned and understood     (‘Poem’s Claim to Lucidity’)

 Interestingly use of Indian cuisines in the Hindi in the poem titled  ‘Idée Fixe’ (meaning ‘Idea fixed’ in the French) is an interesting narration.

The vivid imageries created in the collection about the striking socio-economic aspects are worth reading and are stepping stones for reformation. Poetry on dreaming for love is a distinct addendum to contemporary literature having a touch of humour. The structural aspects of a few poems seem a bit didactic and prosaic in expression and the content of a couple of poems could have been modulated to resonate better poetic rhythms.

 

In the complex world, the poet tries to reconcile himself to the situation and leads a life assimilating the denials and obstructions. Appropriately he has coined the title of the collection,‘Dwelling with Denial’.

Bias and rejection

Have corroborated

To assure, we

The doubly disadvantaged

Be destined to dwell with denial 

 

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