Social Perspectives in K.V. Raghupathi’s
Orphan and Other
Poems
Dr. P.V. Laxmiprasad
Associate Professor
Department of
English
Anurag University
Venkatapur,
Hyderabad, India
Abstract:
Indian English Poetry has come of age and witnessed many
poets. Multiple themes by innumerable poets have immortalized the Muse of
Poetry. Poets are highly innovative in themes, settings, and locale. Society
and perspectives speak about the age and the landscape. Among Indian English
Poets, K.V. Raghuapthi holds an unrivalled position in English Poetry. He is
highly introspective. In the collection, he deals with social perspectives.
These are just his primary observations and experiences.
Keywords:
Society, Region, Village, Post-Structuralism, Ancient roots, Spiritualism, Yoga
Literature is the representation of social
life. The quality of literature is intimately connected with the quality of the
life that it reflects. Literature is always a reflection of life which
presupposes a social ground. K.V. Raghupathi, who has got fourteen published
poetry collections to date, is a renowned critic and reviewer from Tirupathi,
Andhra Pradesh. His poetry collection Orphan
and Other Poems is the objectivity of social vision that has really ensured
Raghupathi’s position as a poet in the world of literature. He is quick to
discern and objectively present the real trends in the direction towards which
the society is moving. He arouses in the reader’s minds a sort of emotional content
so as to continue the existence of his experiences and communicate them to the
reader’s minds. It is here that the skill of Raghupathi as an artist-poet lies
in creativity and innovation. Keeping in view the multifarious activities of
the collection, it is a work of art because it is an attempt to communicate
emotion. Its value is in direct proportion to the intensity of emotion. Its
truth is its own and lies in what makes us feel.
Orphan and Other Poems deals with Raghupathi’s creative passion for the Indian
themes and sensibilities. As a poet, he expresses his commitment by projecting
his insight into the nature, emotion and character of man in the contemporary
society. In the words of W. R. Goodman ,“A literary man is as much a product of
his society as his art is product of his own reaction to life” (Quintessence of Literary Essays, 10). Raghupathi is intensely aware of
the anguish of human situation and uses similes and metaphors together
glimpsing through the rainbow magnificence of life. All the poems of Orphan and Other Poems are rather fact
based than the fiction of imagination. The touch of realism is so strong in the
poems that the readers are awakened to the glaring realities and events in life
around them. He delves deep into the human psyche and moulds the social
perspectives into a poetic shape. He says in an interview with the author of
this paper: ‘‘the poems have dealt with some of my common social encounters in
the society. I wrote poems on orphan, woman beggar who abandoned her child in
the bin, woman in her broken image and so on. Yet in several of them, I have
presented my anguish and of course here and there I have turned out to be
melancholic and philosophical” (Contemporary Vibes, 10-12).
The poet presents the plight of an orphan in the poem which is intensely
heart-breaking. A child’s world is like a broken winged bird when he loses his
mother. The mother was caught in Maya and met another man in a far away land.
The orphan asks his sister not to flee like mother. The poet effectively
employs similes to convey the comparison. The child is compared to “a broken
winged bird,” “a dry fish in the filtered sunlight,” and his mother to “a fairy
woman,” “a bird in search of Eldora Do.” Raghupathi sensitizes the soul of an
orphan who loses the affectionate lap of mother.
When the mother leaves
The child’s world falls apart
Like a broken winged bird form the sky.
(Orphan. 7)
‘Bud in the Bin’ is a
poem again on social perspectives wherein the poet has dealt with common social
encounter. It is a woman beggar who left her child in the dust bin. Raghupathi
is socially sensitive and reactive to the developments around him. He protests
against those erring mothers who indulge in inhuman activities.
I found a half-worm eaten babe
lay half-buried in the half baked bin
of left over like a half-eaten banana leaf.
(Bud in the Bun, 8)
The deep anguish of poet finds a poetic
expression when a woman appeared in a broken image. The pathetic sight of woman
is a realistic social perspective in every Indian life. It is a woman in her
broken image of markings on the brown cheeks, neck and hands. It is a woman in
her broken image where she lay on the floor with her legs apart and hands
thrown between two dirty pillows and two displaced boxes – all pointing to
indiscriminate rape and assault. Raghupathi presents the intensity of emotion
when her carcass was stretched from corner to corner.
She lay dead
like a fish on the shore.
The markings on the brown cheeks neck and hands
in the golden thin light
through the partially closed windows
indicate either raped or poisoned.
But she lay there on the wet floor
with her legs apart and hands thrown
in between two murky pillows and two displaced boxes
her breasts partially opened
nipples pointing to the partially broken roof
full and round with clotted milk.
(Broken Image ,9)
The poet leaves the reader or interpreter as
the focal figure in post-structural accounts of signifying practices. The
distinctive post-structural view is that no text can mean what it seems to say.
Raghupathi’s poem ‘Post-Structuralism’
is an example of text that does not mean what it seems to project. Here readers
and interpreters are left to evaluate the intricacies of poem.
Time crawls in and out of my room
like a green snake on a green landscape
to trace its birth and death.
Words like green hanging leaves
are ready to drop their determinacy
on the ground for free play in the wind.
Meaning is like thick fog and mist
around the trees and fields
over which confused birds
gambol to land and settle.
(Post-Structuralism, 10)
The intensity of drought finds its poetic
expression in the poem ‘Drought’ in
which the poet effectively uses similes to sensitize readers with parched
throats and dried eyes. It is a drought that made them go without food and
water. Nature-centered imagery makes its presence in the poem to reflect
drought.
There are no flowers falling
only leaves hanging like bats.
There are no leaves failing
only empty branches stretching in empty space
like bony hands
There are no branches spreading
only the trunk standing like an abandoned
child in the desert.
(Drought, 11)
The poet’s social perspective continues to
find expression in a poem “An Evening at
the Brihadeswara Temple’. It is a historical Shiva temple built and
patronized by the Chola kings located at Tanjore in southern Tamil Nadu. It is
the poet’s experiences which are subtly presented. Brihadewara Temple has a
prolific history and culture that flows in the profusely carved gods and
goddesses in rhythmical stories. Raghupathi undertakes a historical journey
into the temple where he spent an evening. The chanting of prayer ‘Om Nama Shivaya’ went an air and it is
described as the rise and fall at the intersection of the sky and the pinnacle.
The poet describes the activities of evening at Brihadeswara temple in poetic
appraisal.
As silence fell like champak petals in the wind
over the resting city the Gopuram merged into the dark
shadows
stands as a sentinel.
guarding the Dharma in Eternity
the ineffable peace that passes all understanding.
(An Evening at the
Brihadeswara Temple, 12)
The poet brings out his pain and anguish in a
summer evening. The disappearance of day is the appearance of night. The day is
gone as a swift bird and the night falls from the looks of an unknown dark
woman. Amidst the drenched leaves, a sad feeling picked up the poet which he
could not resist and comprehend. He intensely felt the pain of loneliness,
sadness and longing like rainbow in the droplets. The poet prays to relieve him
from the pain.
‘I
pray, come and read me some poem
to redeem from pain and sadness
that shall heal my restlessness
and banish the past wounds and fears of
death.
I pray, come and play me some music
that enlivens my loneliness and numbed
feeling
as showers of petals from the garden.
(Pain on a Summer Evening, 14)
‘Yogi’
is a poem of stinging satire on fake yogis, fakirs and babas. A typical sarcasm
runs through the entire poem. Raghupathi is socially-conscious and this
consciousness is an outright attack against immoral practices of so-called yogis.
Eyes
closed
cruising
into the night
beyond
the stars and the moon
trying
to be perfect in copulation
with
the unreachable
the
infinite Advaitic Silence…
He
seemed to be in bed
entwining
her with every breath
fondling
with her round breasts
her
neck, her belly, navel and the rest all in dream
Om,
Om, he uttered
every
time to free himself
from
the torments of sexuality.
(Yogi, 17)
The poet is intensely fond of historical
structures. This finds poetic expression in one of the poems ‘A Walk on the
Ruins’. These lines were composed when he visited the Chandragiri Fort ruins
located 12 kms from Tirupathi, a holy city in Andhra Pradesh. He describes the
place as having possessed of “fascinating interludes, romantic adventures and
misdemeanours.” It is laid with granite steps and trodden stones which stand as
testimony of battles fought. The architecture of the Mahal stands unobtrusive. The
poet walked through the manicured lawns strewn with ancient stones. Raghupathi
recollects the magnificent fort built and written about in the history. It is
still fresh on the tip of his tongue.
It
is a place where history stays old as well as young
with
fascinating interludes, romantic adventures
and
misdemeanors
The
trodden stories with marks of blood
now
smudged stand as testimony of battles fought.
The architecture of the Mahal with marvels and serenity inside
stand intact unobtrusive
It
is my history, my past
I
squat and ponder
on
the ruins preserved for the amnesiac man.
(A Walk on the Ruins ,25)
The poet paid rich tributes to M.S.
Subhulakshimi, on her passing away. M.S., as she was affectionately called, was
a doyen of Karnatic music whose musical renderings continue to go an air
through morning psalms and devotional lyrics. Raghupathi recalled the memories
and services of M.S. Subbulakshmi in a poem titled “TO M.S.”
You
sang from the unknown depths of your heart
like an angel unknown to human hearts.
Nothing
else healed our broken hearts
other
than your ambrosia filled voice.
Was it the mellifluous Saraswati Veena
on which your vocal chords fingered umpteen ragas?
Where shall your smooth,sublime, soft and serene art go?
Who are
we, the queen of melody?
We are
nothing but the melting ones
in the amalgam flow of your perfect bhava and bhakti
Om
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
(TO
M.S. 35-36)
A socially-conscious Raghupathi recalled the
nature’s unpredicted fury that attacked a town called Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh
when it was flooded by the swollen river waters of Tungh Badhra in 2009. Only
birds are the mute witnesses of Nature’s fury and human failure. It is a living
agony in symphony. It was water everywhere that carried boxes, suitcases,
utensils, clothes, banks, broken branches and uprooted plants – all moving like
funeral procession.
It is a living agony in symphony
same sound of crying and screaming confluence
with the cacophony of swirling waters.
Houses and trees half merged
stand as pilgrims in prayers.
A grocer in his make-shift shop
surrounded by waist-deep water
unmindful of nature’s fury
makes brisk business serving the evicted and displaced
selling everything
toiletry, biscuits, vegetables, fruits and soft drinks
too
Ethics or no ethics, its business as usual in the
carnage.
(It’s Business as Usual, 37-38)
A typical social delineation finds its poetic
expression in the poem ‘Death of Book-Seller’. The poet composed those pensive
lines after the demise of his friend who was incidentally a book seller in
Tirupathi. He recalls his unbroken bond of friendship with the book-seller.
He
is gone like a patch of summer clouds
leaving
me alone like a deserted bird
without
telling me in the open sky.
(Death of a Book Seller, 40)
The death of book-seller makes Raghupathi
philosophically poetic in the lines.
‘Death
tells none in light or darkness
while
taking the body away,
life
tells none in darkness or light
while
entering into the mortal world to stay.
(Death of a Book-Seller, 40)
He was speechless and remained unspoken and lay scattered in the world
of deceptive bond and love which was like the dyed color on white cloth. The
poet feels like a lost seeker in the mid-Vindhyas. His friend is an unseen gull
over the Bay forever. His death is ocean-like silence around him. He shared
laughter, and exchanged knowledge which was valueless.
‘The Village’ is a poem that
sensitizes poet’s deep affinity for village though he was not born and bred
there. It is a village that speaks to the poet in distress. He sees another
part of village that moves through toil in agony. The village speaks the
language of pubs and bars. Equally, the poet cherishes the romantic feelings in
the life of a village. Further, the village gets to the roots of his soul which
becomes the symbol of love. It is the village which Raghupathi cherishes the
romantic ties with primeval joy and innocence and leaves to speak the language
of wisdom. It is the village which has not learned the ways of a city. The village
continues to live in huts unlike the multi-storied buildings of a city. The
poet is socially perspective in the lines composed.
The
village that lies under the green hills
beyond the road and the track
like a dismembered body
sleeps separated from the usual din
I know this village not in dreams but in its huts.
I know no other village except this
that converses with me in distress
Each little hut, each jaunty little hut
like the brave trees
that bear in silence
the harrowing sun and lashing rains.
This village is another part of me
The lanky men and emaciated women
and swollen-bellied children
bony-ribbed dogs and soiled hens I watch
them
strut & move through toil in agony.
The
village is my feminine principle
The
deep roots of my soul, the symbol of love.
(The Village ,50-51)
The ill effects of globalization drive the poet to deal with the
memories, sufferings and struggles of an Indian weaver “Chenchaiah, the Weaver” wherein Raghupathi shows the diversity of
globalization which has largely impacted the life of weavers in India.
The
concept of globalization; “some prosper, some perish” has indeed shattered the
lives of people across the globe. Chenchaiah, the weaver made an ordinary
living by the mound and a tiled hut in a village. He soon fell into debts. He
lost his wife. He lost his business as well. There was almost frustration. He
is sealed in eternity. The poet shook with pain to see him carried on a bamboo
stretcher.
‘Some prosper, Some perish’ is the story of globalization
Chenchaiah, four scores plus five, short and stout
whose hands have toiled under the light in agony
I think have woven a thousand saris to suit thousand minds.
In middle age, he became cynosure of every rank and file
Soon the doors of globalization were open
to make his looms stranded and weak
His life fell and broke like a pot on a table in debts.
The wife’s heart cracked like the walls in an earthquake
and
Chenchaiah was left alone
alone with his rusted looms and unsold saris.
Frustration hooted in his heart
His tiled house crinkled in sorrow.
His drooping flesh stinks with sweat and dust
Firing sun and hunger burrowed his eyes and cheeks
No hope in his balding head; the long waiting for succor
smashed like a glass on the floor.
Now he lies with all his memories and Struggles sealed in
eternity
I shake with pain to see him pass on a bamboo stretcher.
(Chenchaiah, the Weaver, 52-53)
The poet presents his bitter experiences in a
hotel when he attended the literary festival in Jaipur. In fact, the room could
accommodate only one person but was forcibly shared by the two. The poet
describes the congested life in the room of hotel in the pink city. The poem
reflects the adjusted life of 21 century scenario against heavy odds.
‘If he is inside, I am out side
If I am inside, he is outside
The time has come at last for parting
He leaves much earlier with a sack of memories
I part with a pack full to pen in poetry
The room is left empty with no trace of foot prints
except the persisting nauseating smell emanating from
the empty bottles, crumpled papers, and decomposed food.
It is a room for one in this vast world
and not for two, I leave with no cheer and regret
because the world is like that.
(A
Room in a Hotel, 57-58)
In conclusion, I reckon that K.V. Raghupathi’s Orphan and other Poems is a critique of his own social encounters.
Further, it is a collection of superb sensitivity, strong emotions and finally
with a touch of contemporaneity. As a poet of realism, Raghupathi touches upon
the elements of shared concerns, sufferings and pains. He condemns, protests,
shares, and satirizes the follies of human beings. The poems of the collection
have dealt with the common social encounters in the society. No writer can
escape from the influence of his age. Raghupathi reflects his zeitgeist or the time-spirit. The poet
has presented his anguish and become melancholic and philosophical here and
there. The collection is, indeed, a flowing cascade of social perspectives.
Works Cited
Raghupathi. K.V. Orphan and Other Poems, New Delhi : Sanbun Publishers. 2010.
Prasad, Laxmi P.V. ‘Interview with K.V. Raghupathi,’ Contemporary Vibes, 2011, (10-12).
Goodman ,W.R. Quintessence of Literary Essays.
New Delhi: Doaba House Booksellers and Publishers, 1995.