Sunday, December 8, 2002		Books

Life’s medley of confusion
A Bouquet of Thoughts
by Robin Gupta. Minerva Press (India). Page 322. Rs 1250

THE author is an IAS officer of over 30 years’ standing. Writing judgements and minutes on official files has been his main preoccupation. At the same time he has been examining the eternal quest for life and seeking answers to life’s medley of confusion through the medium of poetry as well as prose. In this personal journal, he includes 43 poems, 17 essays and a portrait gallery reflecting the persona of 38 individuals, which together put the focus on understanding the purpose of human existence.

This 322-page bouquet concerns itself with a bewildering array of subjects, such as spiritualism, poetry, music, art, architecture, dance, education, environment, sports, science and Sufism. So, you can take your pick. The mode of expression is philosophical occasionally; whimsical more often. The undercurrent of plangent sorrows bordering on despair appears time and again.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part contains poems and the second essays. The third part comprises pen-portraits of men and women who have impressed him.

The style of writing is straightforward and intermingles poetry with prose. Since it is a collection of his writings over many decades, the growth and development of a style can be traced chronologically.

The author has taken diametrically opposite stances at different times, which are difficult to conjoin, making it a complex book. Since he has dwelled on apparently unrelated subjects, the intricacy has got further magnified.

The poems particularly brim with poignant sorrow and loneliness caused by the crumbling of a world of values. These are written in the haiku style and many of them are difficult to understand in the first reading. The restlessness of the author in coming to terms with life is clearly reflected. The poems that he has selected to illustrate his understanding of the complexity of human relationships are all full of melancholy. For instance, "Lagta nahin hai ji mera ujde dayar mein …", the legendary lament of Bahadur Shah Zafar, is translated by the author thus:

Incarcerated in a wasteland

Amidst a crescendo of despair

The nightingale sings her seasonal song

Unmindful of the pain I bear.

She serenades her hunter

In the blossoming gardens beneath

Swinging from bough to bough above

As my mind wanders from heath to heath.

The author has tried to deeply examine the eternal questions of life, like what is the purpose of an individual’s terrestrial sojourn. The conclusion he has drawn for making sense of this convolution is equally ancient: to accept reality as it is and adopt a non-judgemental attitude. No wonder, there are liberal references to religious texts and to the Shastras, Upnishads, Vedic literature, moksha, tyaga and dharma.

At the same time, he examines the difference between western classicism and the high points of artistic expression in India. Condemnation of violence in any form is pivotal to the author’s intellectual mandate.

The book contains 110 illustrations.

— ASC