The winning entry stood out in its structure, lyricism and the sheer force of emotion. For the panel of three judges, reading everything else was pure drudgery. Ideas behind the majority of verses were identical. Children in some of the most expensive schools in the country tried to portray different dimensions of deprivation and poverty. Some waxed eloquence about the natural beauty of Himalaya or the cultural heritage of the Valley. A few sang paeans in praise of patriotism. A couple of poems bemoaned the curse of corruption and lambasted politicians. It was difficult to differentiate one entry from another.
It is possible that some of the contestants have since grown up to be full-fledged poets, philosophers and thinkers. Most of them probably chose to pursue professions that are more profitable. Careers in accountancy, banking, and dealership of consumer durables, engineering, hospitality, medicine and surgery are considered stable and rewarding and tend to attract the best and brightest of school graduates in Nepal. Some of them may be reading poetry occasionally and wondering why judges denied them the first prize! It is not just in English; even Nepali verses seem to be obsessed with the illusion of depicting contemporary realities.
Poetry need not dwell in the world of fantasy alone. However, imagination is a worthwhile task, and there is no reason why versifiers should not exercise the poetic license of embarking on flights of fancy in their creations. Every ‘reality,’ after all, has more dimensions than eyes can see, ears can hear, or the mind can understand. Other than death, there is no finality in life.
The most famous case is that of a half-full or half-empty glass where, whatever is held to be true, its exact opposite has equal claim to truth. Even description then is merely a point of view that an observer presents in the light of experiences, predicaments, fears and hopes.
Writers do aspire to achieve the force of mathematical equation or the clarity of geometric figures in their works, but once words have reached the reader, their creators have little or no control over how they would be understood.
Defending the windy and self-aggrandizing writings of the author of History of English-Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill, liberal philosopher Isaiah Berlin opined, “To interpret, to relate, to classify, to symbolize are those natural and unavoidable human activities which we loosely and conveniently describe as thinking. We complain if we do, only when the result is too widely at variance with the common outlook of our own society and age and tradition.”
Like writing, reading, too, forces a person to think, and when it leads to results “too widely at variance,” the reader becomes frightened. Perhaps that could be the reason prose is often inadequate in capturing the magnificence of truth—both the writer and the reader are too afraid of themselves and each other to go on a journey of exploration towards the unknown. The process, which could lead to revelation of reality, invariably different for every person embarking on the journey of meaning, is then left incomplete. Bullet-points are just that—arrows dipped in the poison of certainties of the archer. Doubt is the only reality, everything else is impression.
Paintings and theatre are perhaps better medium for depicting the complexity of any reality. Probably so could be poetry, if only poets learnt to control their urge of preaching morality. Poets and artistes are not answerable to their age; their works are not for posterity, either. True artistes create for themselves, and the society is enriched. Only a poet or a painter true to oneself can catch the glimpse of truth that lurks behind every delusory reality. Reading newspapers, watching television or surfing the net have their uses. Beyond those essentials, there is a different world at the Nepal Art Council or Gurukul Theatre that do not imitate or hold a mirror but extend and contract boundaries of reality. The truth then is of the viewer or the audience. It is received in silence.
Related story
From Chitrangda to Vaani Kapoor: Bollywood beauties show suprem...
