Book Review
By Arun Kumar Singhal
Poetry allows one to express one’s feelings, fears, joys, and memories in a creative way. It can help make sense of complex emotions and provide a means of catharsis. It would not be wrong to say it allows communicating fears and passions and joys and memories in a way that preserves them, honours them, and lets others interact and share in those moments, too.
In the same way, Urdu poetry, with its lyrical cadence and profound depth, possesses an unparalleled ability to articulate the intricacies of human emotions.
So, you may be wondering why I am emphasising poetry and how it encourages us to put words to feelings that we can’t otherwise describe. To cut things short, the reason why I am emphasising the power of poetry in this piece is simply because I never knew that a person I have known for some years and meeting him on different social platforms has the power to encapsulate human emotions in his writings.
What further surprised me was a book he presented me a few days ago, a collection of his over 6 decades of penning down different forms of emotions in poems, ghazals, Urdu couplets, songs, and satire that takes one on a roller coaster ride where one experiences happiness, laughter, humour satire, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and anger—all forms of emotions—in the 155 pages studded with the different forms of the poet’s feelings and calls that he makes through some of his poems.
The best part of the book “Ehsas-e-Mohabbat” (एहसास-ए-मोहब्बत) is that it perfectly portrays a poet’s true calibre of writing with ease in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, and English languages, all of which form part of the work.
You must be desperately waiting to know who this poet is. Well, Dr Raj Bakshi, or “Gumrah”, as he loves to be called, is the man behind “Ehsas-e-Mohabbat”. He substantiates the meaning of the title “Gumrah” by saying the couplet: “मैं गुमराह नहीं गुमराही का एहसास है मुझे एहसास-ए-मुहब्बत है वफ़ा का पास है मुझे”
A long-time resident of Doon, he first got inspired to pen down his poetic lines in English at the age of fifteen after hearing the late Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru’s speech in Parade Ground in Dehradun, which were highly appreciated by all as coming from a child. The encouragement acted as a catalyst, and there was no looking back for Dr Bakshi, and his poetic journey continues till today, even at 80.
A former ONGCian, Dr. Bakshi, besides his poetic eye, is equally at ease writing short stories, plays, and social commentaries.
Reciting a few of his favourite lines and couplets from the book as we both were chatting over a cup of tea in his heritage home of 1950 or even earlier, I realised sitting on a couch created a perfect ambiance for listening to a poet.
Much younger than Dr Bakshi, I saw the poet enjoying reciting his work in the company of an audience no older than his son. Though I have a taste for such literary work, I truly felt elated for someone as senior and a literary person considering me good for his work review. Thank you, Dr Bakshi!
The book has forewords by eminent personalities like Dr S Farooq, philanthropist, social worker, and Chairman, Himalaya Wellness Company; Indu Kumar Pandey, former Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand; and Prof Dr Ram Vinay Singh, Department of Sanskrit, DAV (PG) College, Dehradun.
The sum total of what little I have described about the book pre-launch and the personality behind the work—a true valuation can only come when one goes through the thought-provoking over six decades of poetic work easily understandable by all.
The book will be formally launched at the Doon Library and Research Centre on 8 September. Your presence to hear from the poet about his journey, the nostalgic moments of writing, and listen to the poems and couplets can be a true encouragement to a literary work. Needless to say, such literary work needs to be preserved and encouraged in today’s times of materialism, when the need to be grounded is most required.
