Creation and Criticism

Dr Abnish Singh Chauhan (1979) is a bilingual poet, critic, translator and editor (Hindi and English). His significant books include Swami Vivekananda: Select Speeches, Speeches of Swami Vivekananda and Subhash Chandra Bose: A Comparative Study, William Shakespeare: King Lear, Functional English, The Fictional World of Arun Joshi: Paradigm Shift in Values, Burns Within (Poems of B.S. Gautam 'Anurag' translated from Hindi into English) and Tukada Kagaz Ka (Hindi Lyrics). He can be contacted through his email: abnishsinghchauhan@gmail.com.

1. A Paper

A paper—

it is simply known.

Sometimes it rises,

falls now and then,

striving hard

to fly again

from beginning to end.

Sometimes it dances

like a spindle

and gets no rest, no peace,

feeling lonely in the crowd

on its tired heels.

Sometimes it twists

in pain

and expresses its agony

before the self-loving men,

living in their closed dens.

Sometimes it burns

like coal,

sparks and fades away,

going in the ground,

tilled for the new role.

2. On Meeting

A spring bloom

always gives

hope and joy to me.

A hope—

to fly

like a butterfly.

A joy—

to smile

like a baby’s eyes.

But

Spring

turns gradually

in Autumn

making me

sad and blue.

Is it the cycle of Time

or some type of democracy

In this temporal world?

Spring—

if comes,

never goes

in the world of psyche

where a bloom

opens ever

and closes never

on meeting the BLOOM.

3. Enough

Many times

his inner self becomes vocal,

chastising him,

‘This is enough’—

Talking during meals,

daydreaming while working,

or spending hours

on social media platforms.

Gossiping in the canteen,

enthralled by rumours,

spreading them like seeds,

or passing comments on others.

Doing nothing with care,

shying from responsibilities,

angered by the smallest things,

or fighting over trifles.

But, how to change all this,

he does not know,

nor does he seek to understand.

Is he a slave to his habits

or something deeper still?

4. New Year

“Wish you

a very happy new year”—

declared the lurid signboards

hanging by the roadside.

The same words echoed—

through cell phones,

on television screens,

in newspapers and magazines,

woven into grand stories

of the old and the new,

welcoming New Year.

Historians,

researchers,

speakers,

even poets—

emerged from their solitude,

carefully prepared,

announcing

the world’s progress,

its changes, its triumphs.

And so, it moves forward—

sometimes happy,

sometimes sad—

on a long and bewildering path—

a journey

from January to December.

5. On Holi

O Lord Krishna!

On Holi,

I wish to witness

Your colourful lila

in Goloka Vrindavan,

with Your beloved

Shriji and sakhas.

You know—

that day

I made a journey

to Your shri-dham,

with full faith and hope,

and there, I had darshan

of Bankey Bihari,

surrounded by pujaris, pandas,

and many other devotees,

playing Holi

with one another

in the compound.

You said

in the Bhagvad Gita—

“You also dwell within.”

I search for You there too,

day and night,

but only find

endless darkness.

O help me, Giridhari,

in becoming vijanatah—

one who knows You,

and the unique colours of

one’s own soul.