Question- Write a note on Shiv K. Kumar as a poet.

Answer - 

Shiv K. Kumar is truly called a postcolonial poet. He is the winner of Sahitya Academi Award with various books of poetry, drama, short story and translation. Shiv K. Kumar gave on identity and a sense of direction to Indian English poetry in the Postcolonial period. His knowledge of Indian myths and Indian history is amazing and he uses them as themes in his poetry. And it is in this aspect that his poetry conforms to the norms of Postcolonial literature. But the most appealing aspect of his poetry is that it gives a distinct touch to Indian sensibility. Other than this, themes like East-West encounter, Indian landscape, national identity, contemporary reality he takes all these as his themes in his poetry which give the whole essence of Postcoloniality.

As an Indian English poet, Shiv K. Kumar makes an attempt to come to terms with contemporary reality which is integrated with Indian landscape. His poems such as 'Musing in a park', Banaras: 'Winter Morning'. 'Dawbreak Over Khasi Hills' and 'O Delhi !' are simple at the surface level but at the deep structure level, they make a different meaning. Kumar's dealing with national and transnational themes indicates his open mind and candid approach towards life. Superstition, injustice, hypocrisy, poverty, double meaning, failure in married life, and betrayal in life in the contemporary society all we can see in his poetry. He wanted to expose those who are responsible for the sufferings of layman because suffering in personal life and sufferings in the society at large make him sad.

Like many of the poets of Postcolonial era, Kumar tries to write authentically about the performances of rituals, superstitions prevailing in Indian society. The way some of the people perform ritual without thinking of its result and aftermath, he is against for this. He is in favour of that tradition and ritual which is not hypocritical in its form. According to him a true and genuine religion in that which sooths the mind and the soul and gives moral sensibility. He is not against religion but the evils of religion.

Shiv K. Kumar is considered one the most outstanding poets of Modern Indian English literature, who has the credit to give the recognition. Modern Indian poets got in the world of English literature. He is versatile genius who combined in himself various aspects of a writer. He is a true poet whose poetry is a wonderful work of powerful feelings of pain a gonies and hopes. In his poetry we can find a blend of lyrical and satirical element. He is very simple in his subject matter and treatment. The poet in a very beautiful way exhibits the emotional struggle of Indian city decuellers and villagers. This modern enigma we can see in his poem. 'A Subway Railway Station', which is a superb piece of poetry, reveals the agony of a station-master. Through the monologue of the station-master, he presents the sufferings of common man. He is a poet who is known for his portrayal of India and its different aspects in very a beautiful way. He is essentially concerned with the Indianess' of his experiences in order to recreate new themes, technique and idioms, distinct from writers all over the world who writes in English. His poems on Indian subjects. depict the natural scene and environment, Indian life and Indian myth and philosophy. His treatment of Indian themes is so genuine and obvious that it remains unaffected from the western attitude of the poet. His poetry epitomizes the multi-dimensional experience of being Indian the inheritance of a glorious culture and civilization, the suffering of the present and glimpse of aspiration and hopes for the future.

But another picture of India is seen in a very different way in his poetry when we see the hidden reality of religion prevailing in India. Like any other Postcolonial poet, S.K. Kumar is against the mechanical performance of rituals, in one of his interviews he says that, "a simple person, who does, his work all right, is to me a little God. In his poem 'Kali' he depicts the superstitions that are prevalent in India. Animal sacrifices are made before Gods and Goddesses to satisfy the deity can be taken as a form of superstition present in India.

Thus, after a brief look of Shiv K. Kumar's poems we can say that he is essentially a poet with marked poet sensibility. The most important quality of his poetry is he takes up a simple incident or experience from the vast expanse of Indian and contemporary life and invests its with irony. His keen sense of observation and his imaginativeness make his poems both credible and interesting.

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