So impressed was he by the pristine natural environment that he would go on to make his name as a poet belonging to the Natural school. The poem "My Beloved Okhaldhunga" (Mero Pyaro Okhaldhunga) that to the day clings to the lips of Nepalis gives vent to his love of nature. Poets, musicians and artisans have kept him alive all through the years through melodious songs and lyrics. Critics have analyised him from multiple angles and perspectives.
The poem Mero Pyaro Okhaldhunga has also been variously interpreted. This poem is so powerful that it at once sweeps the reader off his feet. Siddhicharan had deep emotional attachment to his poems that is why my mind feels at peace when I go through Mero Pyaro Okhaldhunga. Time and again, it has helped me to delve deep into my emotions, and take an imaginative flight. I have analyzed Siddhicharan’s poems as an expression of emotions, feelings and a deep sense of attachment to Sovereign Mother Nature.
Symbols play a dominant role in bringing to light the luminous and scintillating thoughts compressed into lines of his poetry. Symbols also give concrete shape and meaning to the body of thoughts that the poet would like to convey to the readers. Ideas that at times appear vague and inexpressible are aptly articulated through symbols in Siddhicharan’s poetry.
Back in the 1960s I had paid a visit to the Yug Kabi during the afternoon. He was pulling on his Hukka, the hubble-bubble. The sun that crept into the room through windows facing south had made it warm. After a few minutes my entering the room, the poet took out a script from under his bed and asked me to listen to the depiction of nature in the alluring heavenly garden known as Nandan Ban. I found the experience overwhelming.
The poetic touch and the range of emotions it evoked were truly exceptional. The Yug kabi, who is so elegant and fastidious in his poetic creations, assumed a somewhat different persona during his conversation. One must, as I learned that day, be remarkably patience to keep listening to him. He is not an eloquent speaker.
Dr. Abhi Subedi, one of Nepal’s versatile litterateurs, once shared with me his experiences and impressions about Siddhicharan. The Yug Kabi had accompanied him to the Bhaktapur Durbar where the signs of Prithvi Narayan Shah´s invasion of the Malla Court were visible in the bullet holes and scratches all around. That inspired him to write many of his plays, Subedi later told me, including the famous The Peach Trees. The biggest motivating factor, Subedi would say, was the Yug Kabi’s powerful evocations of the time-honored traditions.
When I paid another courtesy call on Siddhicharan Shrestha (it must have been over 50 years ago), I had gone there with a purpose to recite one of my own essays on Guheswori, the symbolization of female sex organ. Guheswori looks like a metallic flower vase grounded in earth, reflecting the symbol of female sexual organ. When I finished the recitation, Siddhicharan expressed his satisfaction.
However, the Yug Kabi remarked that he could not believe that I was a bachelor. I indeed was single back then. The poet could not believe how a person who had never before been involved with a woman could reflect on female sexuality in such detail.
I felt I had to say something in reply: "Well, Kaji dai, a long time back you had also recited a poem on Nandan Ban, the garden of heaven. May I humbly request you to tell me when you visited the Ban in heaven?” I would not have dared ask such questions of anyone else. Perhaps I knew that Siddhicharan would take it in good jest. He did.
These are just a couple of memorable moments that I offer in celebration of the centenary of Kaji dai.
Light rain and snowfall expected in some parts of the country t...
