“Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore: Synchronous Philosophy and Dichotomy in Experiment” by Pravat Kumar Padhy

 

Quotes of Life: The Halo-Halo Review

 

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Foreword to QUOTES OF LIFE by RADHEY SHIAM

 Pravat Kumar Padhy presents the Foreword to 

 

QUOTES OF LIFE by Radhey Shiam, edited by Rama Kant 

(Cyberwit, India, 2021)

 

BOOK LINK

Foreword

 

The reminiscence of poetry emanates from the inception of our age-old civilization: from oral chanting to epics writings. The essence of poetry has been imprinted in our ancient Vedic literature. Poetry inspires to unfold the sublime spiritual essence of the basic building block of creation, the living and the non-living, since time immemorial. The literature has been considered as the blueprint of social reformation. From writing an epic poem to one-word haiku (‘Tundra’ by Cor van den Heuvel) has been a long journey in the history of poetry writing.

 

The philosophy of haiku writing is the exploration of vastness in brevity. Jack Spicer aptly writes, “A really perfect poem has an infinitely small vocabulary.” Aram Saroyan's “lighght” may look like a felicitous typo, but the poem was not the result of an accident. There are different forms of poetry that evolved through the civilization of human histories such as Sonnet, Haiku, Villanelle, Sestina, Acrostic, Ekphrastic, Concrete, or visual Poetry, Elegy, Epigram Limerick, Ballad, Tanka, Ode, Free verse and others.

 

Hay(na)ku , pronounced ai-na-koo, is a poetic form invented by poet Eileen Tabios in 2003. The name was proposed by Vince Gotera. Eileen Tabios initially called the form “the Pinoy Haiku”. Hay(na)ku is a six-word tercet  (a 3-line poem) with one word in the first line, two words in the second, and three words in the third, totaling  six words.  The words can be shorter or longer as desired by the poet. Hence it is not the conventional short/long/short (s/l/s) style of normal haiku pattern. Poem with words counted in reverse order is known as reverse hay(na)ku. Chained hay(na)ku  or sequence hay(na)ku  comprises more than one tercet . 

 

Radhey  Shiam (1922-2015) is the first Indian to write hay(na)ku  and he is featured in The First Hay(na)ku  Anthology, Co-Edited by Jean Vengua and Mark Young in 2005. He had written haiku in Hindi, Sanskrit, Awadhi, English and Urdu languages. Later on, his son, Rama Kant, published Radhey Shiam’s collections  ‘Haiku Pahelyiaan’ in Hindi in two volumes along with two collection of verse in  English: ‘Song of Life’ and ‘The Book of Life’. 

 

 

“Quotes of Life” by Radhey Shiam is the first collection of hay(na)ku in Indian English literature. Some of his poems radiate zen-feeling, as often seen in the classical haiku with the basic elements of lightness (karumi), mystery (yugen)  and becomingness (kokora).

 

The poems are arranged alphabetically from ‘a’ to ‘z’: the first line of each poem as the title. Like haiku, the poems are written in lowercase. Words are arranged with counting order to express meaning and to create images within the compressed syntax. 

 

Occasionally poems are written in three lines with the arrangement of words in the style of prosaic expression: “peace/ is wisdom/ wisdom is delight.”  His poems are sort of proverbs and are often composed in symbolic styles. Interestingly Radhey defines: “proverbs/ are ornaments/ of the language.” He has also infused art of humorous when he writes: “grammar/ is makeup/ of lady language.” At times, to render musicality, the poet creates word-phrases like ‘pearls and pebbles’, ‘power and pelf’ etc. Sometimes his poems are characterized by resonance with the repetition of sound:“quarrel/ a barrel/ full of trouble”; “painting/ singing hues/ and dancing forms.”

 

He has depicted vividness with the assimilation of experience and understanding.  Like haiku, Radhey tries to implant  compare and contrast in kyo(na)ku  by juxtaposing the  images  in an artful way: “words/ without action/ birds without wings.” ; intention/ a seed/ person a tree.” His poetic spells have been reflected with exotic beauty: “compassion/ love flows/ in human valley”; “ethics/a passenger/on moral train.” The skill of poetic exploration has been the cornerstone of Radhey’s writing. At places he allegorically paints his poetic thought: 

 

love

can melt

boulders into water

 

Logic and scientific flavours are often seen in his composition: “cause/ is bound/ to yield result.” He enjoys the spirit of freedom and infuses the political awareness: “censorship/ is gallows/ to individual freedom.” His writings embody the light of social reform and signify the socio-religious perspectives: “charity/ is not/ rich man’s largesse”; “donation/ a sin/ in God’s name”; “spirituality/ is practical/ not preaching.” 

 

How beautifully the poet defines the essence of education! It speaks about his inner impulse of a silent social reformer.

 

education

a farmhouse

of good qualities

 

He urges for fostering an ideal society by imbibing better human character. Symbolizing the traditional values of family life, and the role of woman, in particular, he pens: “parents/ are lessons/ to their children”; “home/ is made/ by woman’s wisdom” and “child/ is history/ of the mother.” His metaphorical expression interlaced with juxtaposition is one of the brilliant poetic creations: “bribe/ is charcoal/ blacken the face”; “preaching/ without action/ a barren land.” 

 

The democratic feeling has been reflected through his poem: “journalism/ a teacher/ to monitor society.”  He urges all to refrain from superstitious beliefs: “spirituality/ looking inward/ but no rituals”; “ritual/ is skin/ of the fruit.” 

 

Solemnly he wishes to face the challenges of life, “strength/ is life/ weakness is death” and to enlighten the essence of life like a divine flower:

 

enlightenment

like flower

fragrance of life

 

He discovers God in the serene nature: “God/ is nature/ nature is God.” He explores the value of infinity when he envisages: “imagination/ a bird/ in endless sky.”

 

Artfully he visualises the beautiful saying, “Life is not the bed of roses”, in a novel way: “honesty/ makes life/ bed of roses.” He values the goodness of human beings. It reminds me of Shakespeare’s line, ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’ 

 

The sense of optimism is manifested through a beautiful poem: “mistakes/ wonderful opportunities/ to learn more.”Radhey’s poem on children is a thought-provoking one: “child/ smiles sweet/ home becomes poetry.”  His writings are embedded with zen-feeling: “bless/ a bird/ in cheerful sky” and “heaven/ is within/ not in cosmos.” He discovers soul in the silence of music: “silence/ is music/ of the soul.”

 

Radhey Shiam is a man of humane embellishment with spiritualism, compassion and divinity. He longs for universal brotherhood and oneness: “beauty/ is song/ of the soul”; “humanity/ is real / mother of spirituality”; “oneness/ is recognition/ of universal soul”; “devotion/ is harmony/ with the universe” and “silence/ wordless wonder/ a true bliss.” 

 

He has coined many thoughtful hay(na)ku which remain as fresh as pristine water. He inspires with his appealing words: “success/ is ability/ to endure failures”; “thought/ with action/ way to success”; “wisdom/ divine fragrance/ from silence flower.” He believes in purity and practicality and thus says, “truth/ a flame/ has no shadow”; “yesterday/ never returns/ to greet you” and “success/ a rose/ with failure thorns.”

 

Radhey Shiam has valued the Indian philosophy and the enriched aesthetic tradition:

 

yoga

is union 

of all existences 

 

Radhey Shiam has rendered profundity of inner thoughts into poetry. His poems  reflect the elegant light of layers of wisdom. The literal allusions and brilliance will continue to endure through his profound aphoristic expressions. The collection, ‘Quotes of Life’ is a lexicon of human perspective with contemporary values. 

https://halohaloreview.blogspot.com/2021/04/foreword-to-quotes-of-life-by-radhey.html

*****

Pravat Kumar Padhy obtained his Masters of Science and Technology and a Ph.D from Indian Institute of Technology, ISM Dhnbad. His poems received many awards, including UNESCO International Year Award of Water Co-operation and IAFOR Vladimir Devide Haiku Award. He is nominated to the prestigious panel of ‘The Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems’. He is the Editor, Haibun, Haiga, and Visual Haiku of the Journal, Under the Basho.

 

 

 

bookmark--

in the pages of memory

the pole star

 

Love the Words Poetry Share, Dylan Thomas Memorial Anthology  2021, Infinity Books, UK (Eds. Hannah Ellis and Mab Jones)

https://www.discoverdylanthomas.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Love-The-Words-Anthology-for-Dylan-Day-2021.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0vxQV6n19d9VB6WkgmrT3THFVNtgE0xweZLoyV88wjnlTZWvq6JmrdPBM

 

Hainka : A Fusion of Haiku and Tanka By Pravat Kumar Padhy

 Translated by Hidenori Hiruta

 Haiku, Tanka  2021/05/01

https://akitahaiku.com/2021/05/01/hainka-a-fusion-of-haiku-and-tanka-by-pravat-kumar-padhy/

 

Haruo Shirane in his article expressed, “One of the ideals that Basho espoused toward the end of his life was that of the “unchanging and the ever-changing” (fueki ryuko). The “unchanging” implied the need to seek the “truth of poetic art” (fuga no makoto), particularly in the poetic and spiritual tradition, to engage in the vertical axis, while the “ever changing” referred to the need for constant change and renewal, the source of which was ultimately to be found in everyday life, in the horizontal axis.”

白根治夫は記事の中で、「芭蕉が人生の終わりに向けて支持した理想の一つは、「不変と絶え間なく変化すること」（不易流行）の理想であった。 「不易」は、特に詩的で精神的な伝統において、垂直軸に作動するために「詩的芸術の真実」（風雅の誠）を求める必要性を意味し、一方、「絶えず変化する」は絶え間ない変化と再生の必要性に言及し、その源泉は最終的には日常生活の中で水平軸に見出されることができた。」と述べた。

I have been thinking about the new concept of writing a fusion version of ‘haiku and tanka’ since 2016. I had coined the genre as “HAINKA”, precisely on the day 21^st March 2016, and scribbled down in my personal diary. While writing an essay for a journal, I happened to revisit the page again, and it reminded me of the concept of the new genre, ‘hainka’. I thought of the idea of image-shift in the form of linking and repeating the ‘fragment’ of the haiku as the ‘pivot line’(kakekotoba) in the following tanka for the structural entity and literary relevance of the new genre, hainka.

2016年から「俳句と短歌」の融合版を書くという新しい着想について考えています。正確には2016年3月21日、「HAINKA」というジャンルを造り出し、自分個人の日記に書き留めました。 ジャーナルのエッセイを書いている際に、たまたまそのページに戻ってみると、新しいジャンルの「ハインカ」の着想を思い出しました。新ジャンルのハインカの構造の統一体と文学的関連性のために、次の短歌の「ピボットライン」（かけことば）として、俳句の「断片」をつなげて繰り返すという形式でイメージを移動させるという考えを思いつきました。

The hainka needs to portray a broader manifestation of coherency of the images keeping in view the aspect of ‘link and shift’ within the framework of the combined poem. The linked poem, hainka, can be composed either by the poet himself or in collaboration; haiku by a poet and tanka by another poet.

ハインカは、組み合わされた詩の枠組みの中で「リンクとシフト」の側面を考慮しながら、画像の一貫性のより広い現れを描写する必要があります。 リンクされた詩、hainkaは、詩人自身が作ることも、詩人による俳句と別の詩人による短歌のように、共同で作ることもできます。

Precisely the concept of hainka writing is an assimilation of objective sensitivity of haiku with the more subjective oriented of tanka poetry, and further exhibiting  a component of poetic fusion with the repetition or recurrence of the image of ‘fragment’ in the following tanka as the ‘pivot line’. The ‘pivot line’ in tanka is commonly preferred as L-3 (3/2 arrangement as opined by Sanford Goldstein), and it elucidates the art of link and shift by bridging the upper strophe and the lower strophe of tanka.

正確には、ハインカ創作の着想は、俳句の客観的な感性と短歌のより主観的な方向性との融合であり、さらに｢ピボットライン｣として次の短歌における「断片」のイメージの繰り返し、または再現を伴う詩的な融合の構成を表しています。  短歌の「ピボットライン」は、L-3（Sanford Goldsteinの意見による3/2配置）として一般的に好まれており、短歌の上部ストローフィと下部ストローフィをつなぐことで、リンクとシフトの技巧を説明しています。

Unlike the continuous linked form as seen in renga, the hainka is proposed as a single and independent genre of its own. Instead of merely linking a haiku with tanka on the qualitative term, the synthesis in hainka is based on the image linking (the ‘fragment’ of haiku acting as the ‘pivot line’ of the following tanka)  to explore pathos, anguish, emotion, romanticism, humour with the poetic elegance, musicality and transcendental message.

連歌に見られるような連続のリンク形式とは異なり、ハインカは独自の単一の独立したジャンルとして提案されています。 俳句と短歌を定性的に単に結びつけるのではなく、ハインカの統合は哀愁、苦悩、感情、 ロマン主義、詩的な優雅さを伴うユーモア、音楽性、超越的なメッセージを探究するためのイメージの結びつき（次の短歌の「ピボットライン」として機能する俳句の「断片」）に基づいています。

Structurally it is also interesting to see the syllabic coherency between the ‘fragment’ (5-syllable words) with the 5-syllable words of the ‘pivot line’ of tanka. The final structural configuration would be 5/7/5/5/7/5/7/7 (s/l/s/s/l/s/l/l) with the significance of the image linking. A breathing gap (swinging space) is preferred between the haiku and tanka for the reader to travel with the idea to manifest  a synthesized imagery.

構造的には、短歌の「ピボットライン」の５音節の語句と「フラグメント（断片）」（5音節の語句）に音節の一貫性を確認することも興味深いです。 最終的な構造の配列は5/7/5/5/7/5/7/7（s / l / s / s / l / s / l / l）であり、イメージのリンクの有意性を持っています。 読者が合成されたイメージを明らかにするという考えを持って読み進めるために、俳句と短歌の間に息をつくための切れ目（揺れ動く空間）が好まれます。

I have experimented the following hainka for the poet lovers and esteemed readers. The fragment of haiku and the pivot line of tanka have been indicated in italic.

詩人愛好家や尊敬する読者のために、次のようなハインカを実験的に創作してみました。 俳句のフラグメント（断片）と短歌のピボットラインは斜字体で示されています。

1.

melting snow

sharing warmth

each other

雪解け

暖かさを共有する

お互いに

under sunshine

kids clap together

melting snow

unfolding the secret

gathers smiles on smiles

日差しの下で

子供たちは一緒に拍手する

雪解け

秘密を打ち明けながら

笑顔で笑顔を集める

****    ****    ****

2.

cloud patches           

a mole on the moon

and on her face

クラウドパッチ

月のほくろ

そして彼女の顔に

gust of breeze

unlocks her braided hair

cloud patches                   

descend as achromatic drops

erasing her floating thoughts

一陣のそよ風

彼女の編みこみの髪をばらばらにする

クラウドパッチ

無彩色の滴として下降する

彼女の心に浮かんだ考えを消す

****    ****    ****

3.

a spider web

between the dry twigs

dripping icicles

蜘蛛の巣

乾いた小枝の間に

滴る氷柱

memories

of painful separation

dripping icicles

pour streams of grief

from her swelled eyes

思い出

苦しい離婚の

滴る氷柱

悲しみの流れを注ぎ出す

彼女の腫れた目から

****    ****    ****

4.

rock exposure

the music of waves

rhymes on its edge

岩の露出面

波の音楽

その端に韻を踏む

cloud sails

over the hillocks

rock exposure

gathers streams of hope

rinsing the scars of dryness

雲の帆走

丘の上

岩の露出面

希望の流れを集める

乾燥の傷跡をすすぎながら

****    ****    ****

5.

mountain peaks

the clouds so close

in my dream

山頂

雲がとても近い

私の夢の中で

migratory birds

on an ever long streak

mountain peaks

standing silently record

the footprints of their journey

渡り鳥

ずっと長い筋をなして

山頂

静かに立って記録する

彼らの旅の足跡を

****    ****    ****

6.

stormy ripples

the boatman stares up

at the sky

嵐の波紋

船頭はじっと見つめます

空を

calmness

disappears like rainbow

stormy ripples

he holds tightly

against the pouring rain

静穏

虹のように消える

嵐の波紋

彼はしっかりと持ちこたえる

降り注ぐ雨に対して

****    ****    ****

7.

a glance

from aboard

the early sun

一瞥

船上から

早朝の太陽

fast enough

moving eastward

the early sun

I meet on the way

leaving starlit sky behind

十分に速く

東に移動

早朝の太陽

途中で会う

星空を後に残して

****    ****    ****

8.

unfolding love

from flower to flower

a butterfly

広がっていく愛

花から花へ

蝶

dream sprouts

from a tiny seed

a butterfly

on its maiden flight

links the length of its journey

夢が芽生える

小さな種から

蝶

初飛行中に

旅の長さをつなぐ

****    ****    ****

9.

winter morning

the bud tries to unfold

its desire

冬の朝

つぼみが開こうとする

その欲望を

arduous journey

through the barren land

winter morning

carries faint fragrance

of the caged petals

困難な旅

不毛の土地を通って

冬の朝

かすかな香りを運ぶ

籠に入れられた花びらの

****    ****    ****

10.     

far from the earth

the Gale crater of Mars

with layers of hope

地球から遠く離れて

火星のゲイルクレーター

希望の層で

red ball

in the clear dark sky

far from the earth

man dreams to travel to his

ancestor’s bluish homeland

赤いボール

澄んだ暗い空に

地球から遠く離れて

男が旅行することを夢見る

祖先の青みがかった古里へ

This image-linking across time and space is the art of painting an integrated poetic expression and exhibiting the fervent elucidation and elegancy of hainka writing. Moreover, it retains its focus on the beauty of genetic image-linking to explore the poetic spell within the broader structural framework of the aesthetic essence of the Japanese short form of poetry. Echoing the spirit of Basho’s ‘atarashimi’ (newness), I wish that the new verse will entwine the art of gratitude encompassing nature, living beings, non-living beings, and humanity as a whole along the vertico-horizontal axis.

時間と空間を超えたこのイメージリンクは、統合された詩的な表現を描き、ハインカの創作の熱のこもった説明と優雅さを示す芸術です。 さらに、それは、日本の短い形式の詩の美的本質のより広い構造的枠組みの中で詩的な魅力を探求するために、遺伝的なイメージリンクの美しさに焦点を合わせ続けています。 芭蕉の「あたらしみ」（新しさ）の精神に共鳴して、新しい詩が、垂直-水平軸に沿って自然、生物、非生物、そして人類を統一体として包含する感謝の芸術を組み合わせることを願っています。