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| Sunita sings of sorrows that befell displaced people | | | M.L.Kak
Srinagar, Oct 6: Yet another poet,Sunita Raina Pandit, among the community of displaced people from Kashmir has sung about the pains,tribulations,tears of those people who were left with no other alternative but to migrate to the plains in 1990.
Though Sunita was 23 years when her family members migrated to the plains in Jammu she has succeeded in giving vent to her feelings through lyrics which have deep meaning.She flies on "wings of poesy" while portraying plight of people in tented colonies or in make-shift one-room tenements.While singing a sad song,which is not sweet,about the condition of displaced people Sunita weaves words like an artist."what will bloom ?Lifeless wall leans against lifeless wall.A block before air."
"Distance cannot distance us,we will leave this village for a rendezvous in the city……We ill meet lip to lip.The snow is oozing.The cold is on the run.The season of buds is near.We will meet."These lines carry a double meaning.She is optimistic about depression or misfortune(cold) being on the run which could facilitate a reunion among the people of the displaced community.And she is sure to have a reunion with God.
Again in one of her verses Sunita paints the frustration of a displaced person as an artist and as a saint."He chiselled the diamond not for himself.His throbs are his passion.He passed though life saving.Authentic frenzy was his share."
Titled "Light and Shade" is a collection of 55 poems( more of Ghazals) of Sunita Raina.Coming from Kashmir,a land of sufis,a land of sonorous songs,a land of love,charity, compassion and spiritualism, Sunita has succeeded in singing about love,longing,pain separation, union, hope despair. In this collection she sings bout friendship, exile, human relationship, nature and all that representing spirituality and loneliness.
The "Light and Shade" is her fifth book.She has already written one book of verse in Hindi and four books of Ghazals in Kashmiri.It will not be wrong if Sunita's poetic talent is compared with the top Kashmiri poets, right from Lal Ded to Rehman Rahi,though there may be some major variation in rhythm and rhyme.
Arvind Gigoo,who has translated the 55 poems into English,says that he has "resorted to compression,reconstruction and recomposition" while translating the Ghazals he seems to have taken care of one thing.Prof.Gigoo has not killed the spirit of the Ghazals.He has not distorted the theme of each poem.
Despite having put all his genius in translating Sunita's poetic vision and voice Arvind Gigoo is right when he says "this translation does not communicate the music,rhythm,passion and transparent grace of the original."One should thank Gigoo for having acquainted a Kashmiri like me,who is still to have the talent of understanding the music and virtues of Kashmiri lyrics, Ghazals with the poetic vision of Sunita that travels from desperation to hope,from despair to delight while talking about the future of the displaced people.
Feel the depth of Sunita's vision when she says "Come and sit.I will unfold my heart present wounded memories and show you the gaps.My heart c aught fire and you darted.Forget all……..Some day I will lose the way.And you will search for me.Your eyes will freeze into a wait."
The book,priced at Rs.250 has been published byVaibhav Prakshan,Shalimar Garden, Sahibabad, UP.Those whose knowledge of Kashmiri language is weak they need to read Gigoo's translation of Sunita's 55 poes which could help the reader to unfold the gravity of sufferings of a displaced people. |
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