Shiv Kumar Batalvi: The Keats
of Punjabi Literature
(His Death Anniversary
falls on 7th May)
Zindgi us ke liye ik maut thi
Who pa gaya hai
zindagi darasal mar jane ke baad.
Poetry has been a part
of Punjab’s culture as an important feature of Punjabis’ living experience
since at least, and probably long before, the time of the first major Punjabi
poet, Baba Farid (1173-1265). During the following
centuries, it took many different and distinct forms and besides producing a
long line of distinguished poets in the Sufi and kissa (epic love story) tradition, its oral
tradition encompasses a wide variety of popular poetry in its folk songs and
verse-dramas on the themes of religious mythology. The classical period of Sufi
and kissa Punjabi
poetry came to an end at the turn of the 20th century.
By then, Punjabi poets
had already started adopting modern verse forms. Bhai Vir Singh was the first
Punjabi poet who introduced free verse in Punjabi poetry. During the first half
of 20th century, Punjabi poetry went through the process of a complete
transformation from traditional to modern with the political, economical and
cultural changes that were taking place in India and the rest of the world. The
world wars on international front, Marxist/Leninist revolution in Russia and
India’s own independence struggle on the national level brought about several
changes in the life and outlook of people that were also reflected in Punjabi
literature.
By the time Shiv Kumar
Batalvi started writing poetry in late 50’s, the classical Punjabi poetry
period was already long over and post-partition poetry was represented by many
emerging progressive and modern trends, dominated by Prof. Mohan Singh, Amrita
Pritam and other stalwarts of modern Punjabi poetry.
Shiv was not just a
poet of a few dozen popular poems nor was his poetry limited to a couple of
topics. He was a very versatile poet of many different styles and a wide range
of subjects. Throughout his brief poetic career, his poetry shows a continuous
progression from the early pangs of birha (separation from loves ones) to
increasingly complex emotions and different reactions to his inner sufferings
and towards society at large. His sense of his own identity also went through
many changes. He travelled a great distance from his first collection of poems Peeran
Da Paraga (A Handful
of Pains), published in 1960, to his last major work Mein
Te Mein (Me and
Myself) published in 1970.
Peeran Da Paraga (A Handful of Pains) is Shiv’s first published collection of
poetry consisting of 25 poems. It includes poems that he had written between
1957 and 1960 expressing pain and sorrow of separation and his desire for
death. It includes some of his early popular poems. Lajwanti (The Shy Maid) came single year after
the publication of his first collection Shiv appeared to have arrived at a
level of maturity that was not as prominent in his earlier poetry. This
collection has some remarkable poems on many different subjects. In all of his
poetry, there are certain subjects that he has touched upon once, writing a
memorable poem on it, and then never coming back to the same subject. In this
collection, Sheesho, an
exceptionally beautiful and comparatively long poem, falls in that category.
Shiv’s description of the exploitation of a poor village girl by the rich
landowner is remarkable both for its poetic qualities and for Shiv’s heart wrenching
pity and compassion about the poor girl’s plight. A long poem, Geet (A song -Uchcian paharan diya ohle ohle soorja – O Sun, hiding behind the high peaks
of mountains) is an example of Shiv’s mastery of describing natural scenery:
The sun peeks out
From behind the high
mountains,
Planting little seedling
of light.
It crushes the yellow
sunshine
Into small pieces,
To make anklets for the
mountaintops!
Ankle deep in the wind
Flow fragrances,
The birds fall asleep.
Through a clump of green
trees
A water channel flows
Piping a melody!
Seeing the blue lotus
In the mirror like water
The drooping leaves
weep.
The wind has tied
Tiny anklets around its
feet,
And stamps her heels as
she walks!
………….
[Translation: Suman Kashyap]
A totally different mood from the sadness of some of his other
poems, dominates another poem by the tile of Geet (A Song):
Where rivulets of perfume flow,
There my beloved lives.
Where passing breezes
halt,
There my beloved lives.
Where dawn arrives on little bare toes,
Where night throws
henna-beams on feet.
Where fragrance bathes
in moonlight,
There my beloved lives.
…………
[Translation: Suman Kashyap].
Atte Deean Chirian (The Sparrows of Kneaded Flour) is quite different from the
previous two collections, both in matter as well as in its various themes. Shiv
experimented with different themes under a dominant mood of sensuous feelings.
He also returned back to the topic of birha in Shikra (A Falcon) and couple of other poems.
Once again, there are poems in this collection that display his wide
versatility of subjects, including various themes that are limited to single
poems, i.e., Hijra (Eunuch) and Zakham (A Wound). Shiv also further
experimented in some poems by writing them in the prevalent style of expressing
post-modern consciousness. Shiv was awarded the first prize from the Language
Department of Punjab for this collection.
Mainu Vida Karo is another collection
of songs full of symbols of death and pain of separation that he expressed in
different forms .
Assan Taan Joban Rutte Marna
Mur Jana Assan Bhare Bharaye
Hijar Tere di kar Parkarma
Assan Taan Joban Rutte Marna
(I am going to die in the season of youth,
I am going to depart without emptying my contents,
After completing a cycle of separation from you,
I am going to die in the season of youth)
Loonan
is an epic-like verse play and is considered by many of Shiv’s critics as his
masterpiece and most significant literary achievement. Shiv reworked the theme
of Puran Bhagat, a mythical folklore of
Punjab about the implications of marrying a young girl with an old man. In the
traditional story the young wife is depicted as an evil villain in her
relationship with the grown-up son of her husband from his first marriage. Shiv
wrote his poem from the perspective of injustice to the young wife. He
altogether changed the traditional character of Loonan that is portrayed in the
legend as a wicked, lustful and cruel woman. He made Loonan a sympathetic
character and challenged the male dominated society to reconsider their norms
and moral values. Shiv was awarded Sahitiya Academy award for this book in
1967.
In Loonan,
Shiv presents a remarkably incisive and insightful appreciation of women’s
sufferings in a patriarchy and exposes its moral values as the tools that force
women to sacrifice their individuality to fit in various roles assigned to
them. Reading the deliberate politics of the monarchical discourse in the
legend, Shiv presents it from women’s point of view. More importantly, Shiv
rejects the glorification of patriarchal assignment of women’s role and instead
Mein
Te Mein (Me and Myself) is a
long narrative poem that is written in a very different style and on themes
that Shiv had not fully explored before. With this book, Shiv reached the
height of his poetic evolution and practically the end of his poetic career. It
is in the form of a monologue in search of his identity and inner self that is
being torn apart by the demons of past and emotional responses to different
events in his tortured life. The poem depicts the tragedy of modern man’s life
in many different settings. There appear many autobiographical elements in this
poem and it can be considered as an investigation by the poet of the
complexities of his own life.
One of the most
prominent aspects of Shiv’s poetry is its ever-increasing popularity that has
continued to grow since his death and has surpassed all other Modern Punjabi
poets. Besides more than 20 books and numerous articles that have so far been
published on his life and poetry, his poetry has also been the research topic
of many doctoral theses at various Indian universities. Perhaps the most
important market-based indicator of the popularity of Shiv’s poetry is the
large number of recordings of his poems made for commercial audio albums by
Indian and Pakistani Punjabi singers, including: Surrinder Kaur, Jagjit Zirvi,
Pushpa Hans, Assa Singh Mastana, Mohinder Kapoor, Jagjeet Singh, Chitra Singh,
Kuldip Deepak, Jagmohan Kaur, K. Deep, Dolly Guleria, Bhupinder Singh, Mitali
Singh, Kavita Karishnamurthi, Deedar Pardesi, Jasbir Jassi, Neelam Sahani,
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Shazia Manzoor, Ghulam Ali, Tufail Niazi, Shaukat Ali
and others. Hans Raj Hans released an album in October 2002 solely based on
Shiv’s poems.
Other than Punjabi Sufi and Qissa poets of
classical period, no Punjabi poet except Shiv Kumar Batalvi has ever gained
mass popularity on such a large scale. Shiv’s popularity has now reached a
point where ignoring it as a yardstick to measure the significance of his
poetry will amount to a contempt of the collective mind of Punjabis. He has hit
a chord with the psyche of Punjabis of all backgrounds. A closer look at his
poetry reveals that the success and popularity of Shiv’s poetry, to a large
extent, has its genesis in following the centuries old traditions of classical
Punjabi poetry. Not in its purpose, content or message, especially of Sufi and
religious poetry, but in skillfully adopting the diction, vocabulary, symbolism
and many of its other important aspects. By imbibing the essential elements of
classical Punjabi poetry, Shiv articulated an acute historical sense and
combined it in the most aesthetically pleasing way in his otherwise
contemporary poetry.
At a time when
many of his contemporaries were looking towards the western and, in particular,
the progressive literature from around the world to learn new techniques of writing
poetry, Shiv Kumar Batalvi took his inspirations from the classical literature
of his own land. He adopted many of its techniques to express the crisis of
disintegration of human soul as he saw it in his own life and time. In most of
his poems, the listener and reader encounter the same familiar characteristics
of Punjabi classical poetry: simple language and idiom of village folks;
celebration of death; lyricism; images and metaphors of rural Punjab and skillful
depictions of Punjabi culture. Shiv stands out among all Punjabi poets in his
unique representation of various colours and shades of Punjabi culture.
