At a time when irrepressible human plurality evinced in literature, music, paintings and the like is being vigorously bridled by the titans of market, who shower money, award and honour on those who produce something that hardly goes beyond titillating the imagination of the reader, one desperately looks for an interrogative narrative. The unsettling feeling of being forced to produce kitschy and rip off material needs to be articulated and this is what the expanse of an astute selection of poems of celebrated Hindi poet Leeladhar Mandloi creatively delineates. The poems, sensitively selected and brilliantly introduced by the eminent critic Om Nischal, appeared recently. Divided into five sections, the selection, titled “Hatyare Utar Chuke Hain Ksheer Sagar Mein” (Killers have entered the sea of milk – the abode of Lord Vishnu) regrets that it is the market that lends value to a work of art:
Branding art
Mujhe dekhte hain Parkashit Kavita Ke Beecho Beech Vigyapan/ Ki Is tarah Kala Bhi Hogi Brand Aashrit Ek Roz/ Meri Kharid Mein Aab Zyada Waqt Shesh Nahin/ Main Ise Likhte Hue Apni Ghayal Atma Ke Parayojit Safe Par/ Ki Yahin Aagat Bhavish (I see advertisement in the middle of my published poems/ One day art will be branded/ Not much time is left for my sale/ I write on the page sponsored by my incapacitated soul/ It is the future).
Leeladhar Mandloi’s poems are not numbed by the swirl produced by consumerism and he refuses to accept that the future of the creative soul is to be determined by the laws of market and advertisement. Om Nischal aptly remarks that he sensitively portrays the immense impact of market and his poems betray the predicament of the modern man who seeks solace from advertisement alone:
Is Shaher Mein Jab Kholta Hun Darwaza/ Woh Seedhe Khulta Hai Bazaar Mein/ Dekhta Hun Main Shaher Ek Adhunik Bazar Ki Tarah/ Phailta Ja Raha Jeevan Par/ Sampadakiyon Ki Jagah/ Hans Raha Hai Ek Bada Sa Vigyapan (Whenever I open the door/ It opens directly in the market/ I see the city as a modern advertisement/ that engulfs the life/ In place of editorials/ A large advertisement laughs at.
Exposing pernicious side
Much has been written on the scourge of globalisation and now the multinationals strive for taking the possession of the elixir of life – water and Mandloi in his brilliant poem “Hatyare Utar Chuke Hain Ksheer Sagar Mein” regrets that compassion, sympathy, affection and motherhood – all have been bought and now the abode of Lord Vishnu is being invaded by the merciless killers.
For the poet, Vishnu is besieged and soon newspapers will carry the news of his death. The media led by multinational will announce the birth of a new avatar. It is not a dream, people will see the coverage of death live from the sea and people will forget that Vishnu used to live in water. His poems embody the darkness, covetousness and gloominess that lurk behind the dazzling display of opulence of the modern life. Mandloi’s poems allow the reader to navigate through the conflicting experiences and beliefs that exist within post-modern society and man. In a society where people take pride in laughing at rather than laughing with, longing for wonder has been reduced to a sadistic pleasure: Gypsy woman has mesmerising legs/ People don’t want to see her walk/ They are keen to see how she tumbles down.
His poems create a new discourse of subaltern consciousness. His creative oeuvre is not marked by the event, it is shaped by a sensitivity that draws pleasure from the absence and paucity. The poet is clearly on the side of those values that are instrumental in creating a better world. Nischal and Mandloi deserve accolades for acquainting us with what holds the power to inspire and motivate people in their darkest hour.