Arbind Kumar Choudhary has been honored not only with the designation of Universal Ambassador of Peace from Poetry but also the founding father of The Phrasal Movement in Indian English Poetry by the creative community in and outside India. The lyrical luminosity, cultural culmination, cluster of the phrasal passages, blending of Indian and western mythology, innovative words, painterly painting, Indianized version of Arbindonean Sonnets and ,above all, the uses of various figures of speech are the poetic pearls of this poet Arbind Kumar Choudhary, popularly called the Phrasal King in the history of contemporary Indian English poetry. His more than sixty published interviews in America, Malta, Romania, Albania and India, eleven poetry collections in English, two literary journals Kohinoor (ISSN 0973-6395) and Ayush (ISSN 0974-8075),inclusion of his two poetry collections entitled Majuli:The Vatican City of Assam and Mother India for the Graduate and Postgraduate courses at Sivsagar University, Assam and the ongoing research work—Aspects of Love and Relationship in the Selected Works of A.K. Choudhary at Pacific University, Rajasthan speak volumes about this gigantic poetic personality. There are a group of his verse – suitors who observe romantic features in general and Keats’ intensity of picturisation in particular and call him Indian Keats in English poetry. There are another group of his verse – suitors who inhale Spenserian poetic pigments across his verses while many others become madonna of his verses due to the cluster of the phrasal passages. The phrasal words that appear in plural number in his quatrains make a fertile literary ground for the honor of the Phrasal King in English poetry in India .
Here are the excerpts of Arbind Kumar Choudhary’s interview with Prof Shiv Sethi
- S.S: What are the themes of your verses?
AKC: The ecological disorder, racial and sexual discrimination, humiliation, exploitation, immorality, monetary mindedness, cultural and mythical preservation and ,above all, Indian sensibilities are at the core of my writings that leave behind a galaxy of the poets to abide by this track of versification.
- S.S: What are the burning issues that strike you worst?
AKC: Ecological disorder, deforestation, cruelty to animals and other mute animals, environmental pollution etc are the worst threats for all the living beings on this earth that haunt me worst time and again.
- S.S: What is the distinctive poetic qualities of your verses? Elaborate a bit.
AKC: The Romantic ingredients-emotional eruption, description of Indian sensibilities, mythical meridian, imaginative approach, mood, love for nature and poetry and several others flourish along with the Augustan approach of satire, humor, irony, sarcasm and many others from alpha and omega of my verses.
The phrasal quatrains, phrasal couplets, new words, rhymed verses, mythical stanza, racy style of versification, and Indianized version of sonnets are the most distinctive poetic features of my poems.
Q.S.S: Why do you prefer capital idea to style ? Explain .
AKC: Capital idea is the soul and style is the flesh of the poetry . Capital idea is primary , rest is secondary. Poetic style is implied as per the temperament and taste of the poet to reveal himself that suits him most .
Style stirs for alluvial and changes as per the requirement of the composition. But capital idea needs sensation rather than permutation for the florescence of the creative gardens .
QS.S: What are the worst tormenting things that haunt your inner psyche? How do you wish to relieve of it?
AKC: The groaning humanity, emotional exploitation, materialistic monarchy, sexual harassment, growing immorality, ecological disorder, religious dogmas and spiritual bankruptcy are the worst tormenting things that haunt my sensitive soul time and again. The cruelty with the mute animals and the birds, deforestation and mockery with natural course of the rivers and other non-living objects add fuel to my haunted psyche.
No one can abolish the crux of the aforesaid problems in a night. Change is the continuous process of progress. It requires mental upliftment, sensational vision, optimistic thought, meditative soul and witty mind. Poetry is my weapon through which I try my best to breed messages for spiritual whirlwind for Tom, Dick and Harry on this strife-stricken earth.
Q.S.S: There are a number of Indian poets who explore romantic pigments in your verses and call you Indian Keats ? How do you react on this issue?
AKC: The poets are at liberty to pass their comments on the basis of their observations. I am pleased to know that they have spared their precious comments on my poems that captivate their attention with might and main.
Romantic ingredients are scattered from alpha and omega of my verses that woo a galaxy of the poets to call me a poet of romantic tradition in Indian English poetry.
The romantic features of Keats– intensity of sensuousness, pictorial painting, mythical meridian, love of rural cape, natural iridescence, lyrical luminosity, composition of ballads, imaginative vision, melancholy and sonnets and several other poetic features captivate the heart of the poets who in return call me Indian Keats in Indian English poetry.
Q.S.S: The poets call you the Phrasal King in Indian English poetry? What are the phrasal qualities of your poems?
AKC: The poets can find the cluster of the phrasal words in one poem after another wreathed artistically just like the flowers of the garland. The essence of the phrasal passages drenches the verse-suitors to its utmost degrees. The phrasal fragrance of majority of my verses persuades a number of the verse-suitors to honor with the literary crown of The Phrasal King in the popular psyche of the creative milieu in and outside India.
Q.S.S: How do you see the role of the poet in the society ? How much they mould the society ?
AKC: The poets are the universal beings who have been found ever dedicated for the literary prosperity of Tom , Dick and Harry amidst the materialistic tempests blowing all around the corner. The poetic life is committed to show them the new dream, new vision, and new inspiration for better future in the womb of time.
If they fail to mould the society, to replace the outdated notions and , above all, to plant the new germs of creation, they can never be called poets.
Q.S.S: How does the Indianised version of sonnets vary with other trio model of Sonnets ?Make a difference if any?
AKC: Indianised version of sonnets is the part and parcel of Indian English poetry. The cultural, mythical, ethical and philosophical aspects of Indian society flourish from one sonnet to another that exhume its fragrance far and wide. The English sonnet exhumes British essence to its utmost degrees. The dominance of Indian sensibility has persuaded the Indian critics to call it Indianised version of sonnets rather than other sonnets in English poetry. Indianised version of sonnets is the innovative poetic feature of Indian English poetry.
So far the style, rhyme – scheme and capital idea are concerned, Indianised version of sonnets vary with trio model of sonnets. It consists seven couplets and sometimes three quatrains and one couplet. The style of versification varies from time to time. Its rhyme pattern too is variable just like the running water of the river. Indianised version of sonnets is ever fresh for those who wish to inhale a draught of Indian sensibility ?
- S.S: What is the future of poetry in the age of science, information and technology ? Are you still optimistic about the progress of the poetic world ?
AKC: Science, information and technology is the second form of the poetic dream world. Poetry is the voice of the soul while science is the product of the mind. Only scientific progress will put the generation in the web of immorality, corruption, discrimination and cruelty. I am optimistic that literature will flourish along with science and its inventions for the restoration of the ecological order and spiritual order on this earth .
- S.S: Poets have remained always in the wilderness. Even the publishers neglect them for want of proper charges. How do you see in this context?
AKC: It is the duty of the government to provide congenial atmosphere to flourish for the quality of the peeping poets. The publishers are least bothered to publish poetic works because they are committed to earn money and nothing else. How many scholars go through the poetry books in our society? However the poets are flourishing continently and will flourish in the womb of time. The cloud cannot prohibit the sun from the rising across the literary horizon.
Q.S.S: Throw light on your forthcoming poetry collection if any.
A.K.C: My forthcoming poetry collection entitled The Forgotten Champion is likely to come to light within a short span of time. Veer Lachit Borphukan who has given a befitting reply to the Mughal sultan seventeen times in the same way Prithvi Raj Chauhan has done long ago has been highlighted comprehensively without fear or favour? Indian historians have already forgotten this champion of the champions from the history. Another three manuscripts are ready knock the door of the publisher.
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