An Artistic Rebellion: Shanta Sharvari

In 'Shanta Sharvari', filled with rebellious spirit, social criticism, and linguistic elegance, poet Alankar has added a new poetic flavor to Nepali literature.

माघ १७, २०८२

शैलेन्द्र अधिकारी

An Artistic Rebellion: Shanta Sharvari

What you should know

Nepali poetry was initially identified with classical poetry. Initially, poetry was written based on the established and standard rhymes and rhythms of Sanskrit literature.

Naturally, it is difficult to understand the rules. It is difficult to follow them after understanding them. If this applies to ordinary life, it is also true in the field of spiritual practice. It also had a good impact in the field of poetry. That is, over time, prose poems were written and read.

Since prose poetry was not bound by any rules, more people started writing poetry. As a result, it soon reached the peak of popularity. Gradually, less poetry was written in classical verse. And, the trend of poets towards verse poetry began to decrease.

Poetic practice is definitely not something that can be done in a day, a month or a year. For this, knowledge, determination and innate talent are essential. The trinity of these leads the poet to the stage of excellence.

Time is of the essence. The Vaishya era is also going on in literature. The standards that are being set that what sells is good are being forcibly established. The quality of the work and the writer is being evaluated through awards. But I think that a real poet does not write for market consumption. He presents the subject that his Brahman has seen and understood in a poetic way.

Metaphorical Alankar is a poet who practices outside of market consumption. The epic poem 'Vishrant', written by Acharya in the Vedas, has been published before this. He has already introduced his ability and practice by publishing the epic poem before the poetry collection. At present, his new poetry collection 'Shanta Sharvari' has reached the readers.

Shanta Sharvari is a thematic title, so there is no poem collection under this title. Symbolically, a night that is not naturally turbulent, such as wind, rain, etc., socially turbulent, such as quarrels, theft, fairs, etc., politically turbulent, such as violation of civil rights, atrocities, arrests, etc. is called Shanta Sharvari. In philosophical terms, Sharvari or night is ignorance.

Sharvari is the state of ignorance such as lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego. When such Sharvari is removed by lighting the lamp of consciousness, that is Shanta Sharvari. The calming or removal of ignorance in the form of night is Shanta Sharvari. The title of the collection of poems carries this philosophical meaning. Darkness is the nature of Sharvari, while Shanta Sharvari is the purpose.

Alankar, who started his literary journey by writing classical ghazals, is adept at presenting it in his poems by combining Tatsam and Jharra Nepali words. This seems to have made his poetry simpler, easier and more accessible. This quality of his is reflected in the poem titled Chaitanya's Bahana:

I see you like a rose

Like the calm nature of the sea

Chaitanya's Bahana, play this Bahana

Go and cross the river.

In this way, Alankar has been seen as a skilled wordsmith and craftsman, skillfully combining the words of the customs of rural life with similar words. While reading the poem, it seems that he is a river of poetic meditation, which has to flow. But that flow is calm. There is no rustling anywhere. There is no laziness. The poems of Alankar seem like a river flowing peacefully at its own pace, natural and charming. He has decorated the elegant language with his miraculous craft and raised it to the level of excellence.

The poet, who has followed the classical norms in full, has not shown artificiality just to match the numbers . He has not done injustice to the feelings due to the rhyme . In the poem titled I will make this country a paradise on earth, his satirical sub-genre of rhyme is presented on the bridge of verse : 

Licking the mountains and drinking the river

Swallowing all the stones and wood

I will erase the name of Agastya 

To cast a sharp satire on the contemporary distortions, Khappis Alankar has flowed in the ups and downs of the five-faced man:

I see that today the air is filled with poisonous passion

And there is an itchy pollen on the forehead in my life 

I woke up, I always slept, I always slept, I am self-employed, wherever I am, my crops have flourished 

The poet is an expert in making polite satire through figurative poetry. There is no hint of vulgarity or rudeness in his satire. With an extreme sense of sarcasm, he is found satirizing social traditions, customs, as well as administrative anomalies through poetry. He is skilled in satirizing trends rather than individuals. While reading his poems, it seems that sarcasm is mixed in his poems like salt is mixed in water.

In recent poems, the tone of satire and rebellion towards the country's core leadership and political activities has been read the most. In addition to this, human tendencies and social behavior have also been satirized in his metaphorical poems. In particular, he is also introducing diversity in satire, which can be said to be rarely found among poets of recent times.

This is a roaring

for the truth of justice, but it is not a song of the country, it is a singing

tiger. Welcome.

The poet has expressed serious disagreement with the current Nepali society's consciousness and political developments through poetry. Pointing out that the people are the victims of politics carried out in the name of the people, the call for peace for the big and law for the small is being fulfilled even in the present, he also takes a critical view of the rulers and governing tendencies that are not and will not be in favor of the people and the country.

While reading Alankar's poems, it seems that he is speaking of rebellion. He is expressing disagreement with social disorder. He is dreaming of an egalitarian society. But he is wondering, is such a dream just a dream?

There is a belief that poets and writers are born opponents of power. This belief is reflected in his poetry. He has risen above the slogans in the name of poetry by focusing on any political belief and speaking the language of artistic rebellion. With his craft, which is blended within the periphery of classicalism, his waves of thought have created a serious discussion in the minds of the common reader.

In the collection Shanta Sharvari, it seems that the rhetoric has paid equal attention to thematic diversity. In the second poem titled Kantipur Gatha, he has used his magical pen very well. From there, as the poem progresses, in addition to political-social issues, natural beauty, ethics and scriptures, he has also presented Vedic hymns in the poem. One can feel the miracle in his poetic craft on every subject. Overall, Shanta Sharvari is a readable and collectible work that has come out in recent times.

शैलेन्द्र अधिकारी

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