Cultural Iridescence of Majuli:The Vatican City of Assam

Book Review

Prof Dr Shiv Sethi

Majuli:The Vatican City of Assam by Arbind Kumar Choudhary  is primarily a poetry collection in which the cultural heritage of Majuli in general and the river junction in particular  has been painted painterly to create spiritual whirlwind  here, there and everywhere. The Satra and the Bahmaputra are the jewels of this cultural capital of Assam.Poetry is his passion in which he plays with the words and the styles as if they  were the erogenous zones of his sweet heart. His constant romance with various forms of verses that he explores and experiments in one poem after another  makes him a versifier of first water in Indian English poetry.

The    iridescence  of the inflorescence incites  the  suitors for the dalliance. Epithalamium, elysium, imperium, rosarium,   athenaeum,    delirium,   odeum etc are the uses of the  words that are   rarely  found   in   Indian   English   literature.  Autumn   is  the  guerdon   of  the  faery lands  forlorn.  Summer’s   honey  breath   is  the  perianth   while  wintry   fort   is   a   cold   comfort.Beauty captivates all the senses. It produces joy to the eye of its purity,  offers the  pleasure  of  touch  by  its  coolness,

gladdens  the  senses,  of  smell  by  fragrance  of  its lout uses, pleases the  ear with the ceaseless murmur  and  delights the taste  with its sweetness .The   immortal love-episode of Sita- Ram, Radha- Krishna,  Laila- Majnu, Heer-Rangha,   and    Shakuntala-   Dushyanta     frame   of   mind   of    all   those  who  were  deprived  of  a   sip  of   spiritual  love. His  attack on   lesbianism, homosexual, house of sale, marriage and abortion    makes  him a poet of philosophy rather than  emotion. Lesbianism,   nudism,   and   sapphism    are   the   unnatural    call   of nature   that   pollute   the   hurst of   the love nest on the name of love. Bread   and   cheese    marriage   of   the  sexage   encages   the  wage   of   the   lovely   paysage.They   are   fruitful   for   all   the   ages   and   for all  the  times.  Spiritual   sanctity   is   his   poetic   world   that   keeps   the wolf   from  the   door   for   the   fair   play.  The   firth   of   the   labyrinth   is   the  earthily   mirth   against   the   sublime   myth.  Poetic   terrain    is  the   natural  train   that   is  as  right   as   rain   of   the   chaplain.  Pauper,   nature   and   other   suffering   classes   are   poetically   focused  to   keep  the  natural   sanctity   in   order. The   more  one   suffers,   the   more   one   gets  reward.  Suffering   is   the   capital   idea   of   his  poetic   inflow.

The most distinctive poetic feature of his verses is the blending of three or four phrasal words in the quintain that has been found wreathed artistically just like the beads of the garland. The blending of the phrasal words in plural numbers in one quintain after another makes him the Phrasal Monarch so far the phrasal fragrance in Indian English poetry is concerned.The phrases are highly provocative, thoughtful and sensational. The phrasal  words reveal not only the phrasal maturity of this Phrasal King but also the density of the phrasal passages for the Phrasal School of Poetry in Indian English literature. The exploration of the Phrasal School of Poetry in Indian English literature justifies the global recognition of Indian English poetry without doubt

Choudhary  paints  the  beauty  of  nature  better  than  Nature  can  display  its  beauty. He  presents  the  natural  objects  to  stir  the  suitors  to  its  climax. The  stirring spring,  peeping  moon, scarlet  tippet, tying  purple,  spring  azure, motley  paysage, the  passion  flower, spring   suitor, sapling  spring,  seasonal  flood, and  spangled  golden  star  are  all  sensuous.

The  blending  of  Indian  mythical   messiahs  with  their  western  counterparts  adds  additional  beauty  to   the  poetry   of this Phrasal King that  makes  it  more  and  more  fragrant  for Tom ,Dick  and  Harry  across  the  continent .His  blending  has  made  a  bridge  between  the  two  grand  culturally  rich  civilizations  of  the  world . As  a  result  his  poetry  books  are  equally  of  great  importance  in  the  east  and  the  west. He  is  undoubtedly  the  mythical  messiah  in  the  popular  psyche  of  Indian  English  poetry .His uses of various figures of speech, native, compound and new words, abundance of the phrasal, proverbial and pictorial passages, poetic beauty, philosophy of sufferings in life and various other poetic tools  establish not only a new school of poetry but also fires the poetic passion of the peeping poets for poetic perfection in their careers. Dr.A.K.Choudhary  fondles  Indian  culture, myths,folktales,folklores,  native  gods  and  goddesses  that  appear again and again  across  his  verses  with  great  expertise.  Sometimes  Choudhary  becomes   a  romantic  poet  while  he  deals  with  the  romantic  features. But  the   critics   also  find  satire, irony, ridicule  and  other  neo- classical  features  of the Augustan  period. As a  social  painter  he  is  second  to  none  in  Indian   English   literature. The suffering for humanity, pictorial poetic passage, lyrical luminosity, imaginative vision, love for ruralscape  and junglescape earn the crown of  Indian Keats while the phrasal fragrance of his verses make him the Phrasal  King  in  Indian English poetry.The  pictorial  painting  and sensuous  sanctity  make him Indian Spenser while the  abundance  of the  rhymed verses makes him the Quatrain King in the domain of English  poetry in India. Majuli   is   the   river  locked   island   where   his   poetic   aster   blooms   to   its climax  in good  humour.  Natural sanctuary  is   ever   superlunary   like   the   cartulary  of  the  luminary. The    ecological   music   is  the   best   song   and   greenery is  the   epiphany  for  hegemony. The   divine   cartulary   is   ever condolatory  that stirs the gantry of the   gentry. The  seasonal  trimester  holds water for  the  pater  noster. His  poetic  paysage  perfumes the poetic world with philosophy of  nature  for   the   universalism and   humanity on this earth. His   motley  may, celeste  colour, pigmented   cadmium, tyrian  purple,  staring  spring, green pansy, dew   dark   obscurity, natural   tornado, Aladdin’s lamp, stellular ether, privet thicket   etc  are   the unique    composition  of the  words  that add additional   beauty   to his   poetic   anthem.

Poetry  book: Majuli:The Vatican City of Assam

Pages.78

Publisher: Authors Press, Delhi

Price:INR.250/

 

 

 

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