An engrossing anthology with undue emphasis on English
The book is also out of the ordinary because it has been published by a private publisher, which is rather rare. Translation of poetry and prose from Indian languages to English is usually undertaken as a comprehensive exercise only by the Sahitya Akademi. The book is, therefore, an experiment in generating diversified interest in the literature, in this case poetry, of the major north Indian languages, namely, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.
The first thing one notices is that 118 out of the 202 pages in the book are devoted to love in English poetry. Only the remaining 84 pages have been allotted to the other three languages. I do not think Singh's selection of English poems beginning with excerpts from the "Old Testament" and ending with the staccato bitterness of Alice Walker involved any objective criteria backed by application of the principles of romance, eroticism or mystery. It is his subjective selection. One could question the lack of attention to English poets of the inter-war and the post-war period. But his selection is scintillating, containing works of classical and early 20th century English romantic poets. The selection contains not just the ecstasy or the longings, but also the pathos and pain which love involves.
Kaushik's translations of Hindi poetry (pages 121 to 147) have a historical sweep from the 14th century onwards. She has chosen the works of known romantic poets from Vidyapati and Meera to Harivanshrai Bachchan. One wonders why she did not choose some of the Muslim romantic poets in Hindi like Malik Mohammad Jayasi, Amir Khusro and Abdul Rahim Khane Khana, who were the first Muslim poets to write in Hindi dealing with romantic subjects. Their love poetry was profoundly sensitive, laced with reticent eroticism and gentle satire.
One also wishes that Professor Kaushik had at least included one or two poems of Ram Avtar Tyagi in her anthology. Her not including the poetry of Mahadevi Varma, though she mentions her on page 134 of the book, is a regrettable omission. One also wonders whether Kaushik suffered from a prudish reticence in selecting poems, because 14th to mid-18th century Hindi poetry is replete with examples of direct and bold romance in all its dimensions, which she has avoided.
The Urdu and Punjabi selections from pages 151 to 208 are of Singh's choice.While the poets whom he has selected for inclusion in the Urdu anthology are unquestionable doyens of romantic poetry, two points need to be made.
First, he has focussed more on the poets of the 18th and 19th centuries than on contemporary poets who have written equally sensitive poems. Secondly, I would consider Nazeer Akbarabadi and "Insha" (both of the 18th century) as more intensely romantic than Dagh or Momin. It is a pity their works are not included. But then, this is a personal selection of Khushwant Singh. So my criticism may not be valid. Equally, it is a pity that he did not include any poems of Mazaz Lucknowi and Kaifi Azmi in his selection.
Some basic knowledge of the literature of three out of the four languages included in the book gives me the boldness to venture these opinions. I know conversational Punjabi, but have little direct knowledge of Punjabi literature. The Punjabi poets selected by Singh, however, were known to me by reputation. Three discoveries, for which one thanks him, are the poems of Tara Singh Kamil, Shiv Batalvi (The Falcon—what exquisite passion and pain permeates this poem) and Ravinder Singh.
Khushwant Singh and Sharda Kaushik have presented an attractive bouquet of poems from Indian languages to the English reading public. One wishes that the authors had devoted less space in the book to English poetry and more to the other three languages. Predominance of one category of flowers in a bouquet reduces the riot of colour. Nietzsche, in his book Beyond Good and Evil, asserted:
"What is most difficult to render from one language into another is the tempo of its style." Despite this inherent limitation, both Singh and Kaushik have captured the essence and the lilt of the poems which they have translated. A thought occurs to me that English translations of the literature of our languages, as has been attempted in this book, could be both an education and a corrective to counter the cultural alienation affecting our people due to the onslaught of a globalised con-sumerist culture.