Prof. Akavoor Narayanan Writes on DrTPS-Poems

Prof. Akavoor Narayanan retired as professor of modern Indian languages, Delhi University. He has authored several books on classical arts and literary criticism in Malayalam.

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EFFLUGENCE OF WISDOM AND LOVE

Dear Sasi:
I have carefully gone through the poems in your book “Life of Love”; I deem it a privilege and honour to be asked to say a few words about such a book of exquisite beauty and grandeur. But at the same time I must confess that it is not without a trace of diffidence that I scribble these lines, because of two factors. The first is my doubt of my own fitness and competency to comment on the quality of these poems of high thought since I consider myself as a layman as far as principles of metaphysics and modern science are concerned. The second reason is that I was not in a position to read and write about a book, physically and mentally, when you presented it to me. Now I feel a little better and relaxed and refreshed. The pleasure and satisfaction derived from enjoying these rejuvenating poems emboldens me to venture an attempt.
These poems, I think, essentially reflect the core of Indian thought expressed in poetry. As everybody knows, information and knowledge do not make great poetry. We get poetry of good flavour only when knowledge distils into a mystic and sublime sensibility. Otherwise it remains mere prosaic statements. In these poems I experience deep and unique thoughts on life and death based on our ancient wisdom fortified, corroborated and tempered by modern science as expressed in these, crisp and exact words. Even these few lines of the first poem, “THE RACE OF BIRTH” set the tune:

My birth was a battle
Anyone could have received life
Instead of me
The sperms from my father
Fought to reach my mother’s egg
I was conceivedWhen I raced with many of myUnborn brothers and sisters
I am the winner

How beautifully, one would wonder, the poet has expressed the process of conception and reproduction! Another gem of a thought based on one’s own experience in given expression in these words of poetic finesse:

The mornings were bright
The days sunny and bright
The evenings gloomy
And the nights too chilly
Alone once again
I wished that someone
Would keep me company
And share my grief in failure!
(I NEED SOMEONE)

It is only natural that our hopes in the evening of life that

I need someone
To keep me company
And be with me forever
In happiness and in sadness too!

The anger and anguish of an enlightened scientist with a human heart have found powerful expression in another poem “THE UNDIVIDED EARTH”. It is only in the fitness of things that a scientist with brain and heart like you visualizes the total destruction of the whole world as a result of the mindless and heartless pursuit of modern scientific advancement, and pray:

GOD, grant me another birth
With less of brain
And more of heart
To live free and fair
To see the earth
As the undivided one!!!
(THE UNDIVIDED EARTH)

It is so refreshing and heartening that a pure mind having absolute faith in the real God without any attributes recognizes and values the ultimate truth, which is stranger than fiction. Though in a lighter vein, you have uttered a profound thought with the lines

‘Carrying before marriage is a problem.’
………
‘Not carrying after marriage is a problem.’
(MARRIAGE AND MIS-MARRIAGE)

I would like to place another poem “BETTER BE BLIND” besides this

Love was blind
Marriage an eye opener…
Get married…
Close your eyes…
Love the spouse…
Better be blind !!

You have realized that

Surrender (is) so sweet beautiful and natural
As the flow of the river;
Graceful movements in a dance
The subtle symphony of life
As one surrenders the mind
To God in all empty moments
Attaining the best in harmony with the self
(GRACEFUL SURRENDER)

As our scriptures say, self knowledge is the highest and greatest knowledge. You have given eloquent expression to this wisdom in the modern context of medical treatment

Now the doctor says
He will open my heart
To remove a small block !
There are secrets
In my heart
That he must never find,
I would rather die
My secrets safe within me
(OPEN HEART SURGERY)

I have quoted only a few specimens from your poems, which are really distilled products of decades of dedicated study and teaching enriched by retrospections and ruminations. I am profoundly thankful to you for providing me the sublime bliss of true wisdom and true poetry. My hearty congratulations for this lovely poetic gem which lives upto its name, “LIFE OF LOVE”.

With warmest regards,

Yours,

(Prof. AKAVOOR NARAYANAN)

Mayur Vihar, Delhi,
4th February 2009.

Dr Radhika Nagrath writes... about DrTPS-POEMS

Comments by Dr. Radhika Nagrath

Dr. Radhika Nagrath is an English Literature expert, who contributes to various news papers and periodicals on philosophy of life, spirituality and life response. She has been a freelance writer for many national and international magazines of repute like New Era, Life Positive and Global Vedanta. Having delved deep into the study of Swami Vivekananda on his poetical aspect, she has authored a few books on the same.

1. THE RACE FOR BIRTH
The positive attitude towards life depicted in the lines above strongly motivates us to move ahead in life in spite of all odds. The biggest struggle of winning over the competent brothers and sisters in the mother’s womb, who could have taken birth, is already over. The poet inspires that if we have won in the race of birth successfully, why can’t we win in life too? He exhorts a common man to believe in oneself and come out triumphant in life.

2. FROM PHILOS TO AGAPE
Each age has its own charms and lessons to give. Growing from teen to twenty the writer has also realized the blows and blooms.

3. I NEED SOMEONE
Life is all about sharing the joys and sorrows. There should be someone in life with whom one can share. The poet longs for a true companion.

4. THE SECRET OF THE SELF
The Self encompasses all, viz. life, mind and God. In very few simple words, the poet explicates the trio through the Self.

5. SELF LOVE – TRUE LOVE
Love of the Self is the true love because it rightly guides the life of a person. This loving of the Self is not fanning the lower ego or self which binds but with the higher self that liberates us.

6. THE UNDIVIDED EARTH
The poet’s imagination is a place somewhat like Utopia, where there will be no bindings. Animals move free, so does the man; the creatures are not captured for any commercial use.
The more the modern man has grown in knowledge, more boundaries he has created around himself. Emotions are left far behind and intellect rules the way. In this poem, the poet’s sensibility can be likened to a great philosopher thinker of the 19th c. Swami Vivekananda. He says at one point in his life that he wishes to unlearn what all he had learnt in a life time. The modernization and material growth seems weighty to most of the men of heart.

7. WRITING THE SCRIPT FOR OTHERS
A common observation at community places especially at places of worship and contemplation like temples and churches is that people visit the holy premises but get engaged in mundane talks. They are whole heartedly involved in discussing about weather and events of the lives of others. Sarcastically Sasi Kumar says, “Will someone write my script of life too?”
The poem is a satire on our common wasteful talks prescribing the key to happiness in each other’s lives whereas each one of us has to write the script of our lives ourselves. Whatever we think, that we act, and so we become. No one else has right to perform our karmas.

8. DESIGNER AND ARCHITECT
Somewhere down the line if we analyse the existing social and economic disparity in life, it is we alone who are responsible for that. If each one of us shares the burden then this disparity in the world can be lessened. Everyone on this earth must be given a chance to prove himself. The poet owes himself responsible for the suffering in the world. The world could be a better place if each of us undertook the responsibility. The poet owns the responsibility that he is the maker of the beggar next door portraying his heights of modesty through this poem.

9. MARRIAGE AND MIS-MARRIAGE
To fulfill her role of motherhood, it’s the woman who is to be blamed ever for carrying or not carrying. In this male dominated society, man has kept himself safe on all fronts. His balance sheet of credits and debits, assets and liabilities boils down to the perfect figure - Nil. Man has always been a crafty accountant in his married life.

10. OPEN HEART SURGERY
The life’s secrets die with a person sealed in the heart of a man. The inner chamber of one’s heart is the safest place where no one else can have access until we allow ourselves. The love for our God must be kept safe in that chamber. The poet wishes to leave this earth with his secrets hidden without anyone having access to the inner realms of his heart.

11. ARROW IN SHADOW
As you sow, so shall you reap; the poet asserts through this poem. The force with which an arrow is shot or the ball is thrown, comes back to us with an equal and opposite force. It is the nature’s law. No one can escape the law of karma. What we do today is bound to come back to us in this life or another.

12. MISSION TO MOON AND MARS
Being a space scientist, the poet’s infatuation with moon and mars can never be withdrawn. He foresees the time when people will plan their holidays and get togethers on other planets but ties with heavenly earth can never be broken.

13. THE MIRROR OF LIFE
The guy in the mirror hints to me to keep my mind’s mirror sparkling clean. The whole world is reflected in the mind’s mirror. But is it an easy task? Nay, the poet says that who will give me the magic formula to tame this mind and keep it ever sparkling for the reflecting the truth of life.

14. THE ELIXIR OF LIFE
A smile can go a long way in brightening someone’s life. That face is incomplete which doesn’t wear a smile. Without an extra cost, it enriches the both receiver and the giver. So whenever one dresses up to start his day, the first thing to check is, “Are you wearing a smile?” And the friends who make you smile are to be cherished for long, feels the poet.

15. HALF LIVED LIFE
The realization that major portion of life has been spent in stupendous affairs, comes to a very few. Most of us feel contented having had a good career and living. But is that the real purpose of life?

16. HEART FAILURE OF THE SPIRITUAL GURU
The seat of all emotions, heart is an important part of the body where the Absolute (Brahman) exists. ‘Hriday kamal’ (the lotus heart) of the devotee is the place where the deity resides. So never hurt the soft organ, cautions the poet. With the stopping of the heart, the life stops too. Even if the beats of the heart of spiritual guru stop, his words echo in the ears long after.

17. WE BECAME ‘ONE’
With maturity of age comes wisdom. All strives and struggles of life come to an end with egos dissolved and the two lovers become one.

18. BETTER BE BLIND
It is sometimes better to shut our eyes and accept gladly the follies of each other in a married life. Loving unconditionally is the key to a successful married life, feels the poet.

19. SABOTAGED RELATIONSHIPS
Blessed are the adversities of life for they teach us how to live in life. Criticism and blames inflicted are in fact a boon which cut and polish us. One must learn to be happy and enjoy every moment of life, says the poet.

20. WINTER’S RAIN
In this poem, the poet has caught the beautiful somber feelings which one experiences in life. After a long wait, our cherished dreams come true and the joy derived from those wishful moments which come after a long struggle are like the light shower and glittering sun after the chilly winter. Every cloud has a silver lining and so is the every dark event of life.

21. THE RIVER OF LIFE
Reading the poem I am reminded of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, the chief mentor of Swami Vivekananda who gives a beautiful explication of Absolute and its manifestation (Purusha and Prakriti). He says that the Absolute, when in static form, is Purusha, the causal agent of this whole universe and when in dynamic form manifesting the changes, is Prakriti. In this river of life, Prakriti plays in different forms and ultimately unites with the Absolute. Just as the river, merges with the ocean and thus becomes complete, same way we all are flowing in this river of life and keep on evolving in every birth till we become complete and are liberated.

22. GRACEFUL SURRENDER
To gain in life, one needs to surrender. To move on in life, surrender is mandatory; to harmonise in life, surrender is the only key. Let go your mind and your thoughts and be empty for a while. That is the only mantra of success and joy. So surrender at will otherwise nature herself forces you to surrender on day, says the poet.

23. GUARANTEED BLESSINGS
Visiting his homeland after a gap of few years, the poet is caught in between two cultures; one which he has left behind and the other which has become dominant. He receives a culture shock when he sees spirituality being marketed. The “traditionalist” poet finds himself as an alien amongst his own country people. He sees everything from the past lens and is grieved. In a satire he says that are the blessings also guaranteed in this age of warranty?

24. MY HEART THROBS FOR YOU
My Lord! My heart throbs only for you and not for your benedictions and gifts. And this pining for you is also a gift from you, says the poet. He says to the lord that if he can feel for Him, it’s because He has bestowed on Him the real heart which craves not for earthly love but love ethereal only.

25. IN SEARCH OF YOU, KRISHNA
The poem is soaked deep in Indian mythology. Only Lord can tell His means, as mysterious are the ways of God. In what form and where will the Lord incarnate, He only can predict. Where can we mortal beings search for Him? He only can know whom Lord himself lets know, says the poet.

26. I MAY NEED YOU EVER MORE
Devotees look upon their deity, Lord Krishna, in many ways. One of the ways of expression is Sakhya Bhav in which the devotee talks to the beloved Lord as a friend, sharing with Him every moment of his life. This friendship with the Lord is the only true friendship and eternal.

27. SOCIALISING WITH GOD
Every act done with realization of God becomes fulfilling, even the act of socializing. When we are socializing with the Creator, His Creation automatically comes in our purview or social circle. We need not make any special effort for that. Through Him, one can reach out everyone.