The Darkest Rhyme

Human sorrow was described by Kahlil Gibran as "When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." What do you do when you are in sorrow? Do you read, Do you cry or if you are ashamed of crying then do remember what Charles Dickens said "We need never be ashamed of our tears." Each generation has its own sorrow singer who sings sorrow in poetry and perhaps the simple act of poem being written is more sorrowful than poem being read and felt. Such one for whom I feel pain yet devour myself in reading him is Pablo Neruda. What do you do when the words you want to say are not heard nor you find your word being understood? Do you keep uttering those painful verses of yours whose value depreciates with each word being heard casually.  I perhaps in that moment prefer to read and let's assume what would Neruda have done in those moments, perhaps in hope that his words would ...

“As millennials, if we have more avenues to find love, we also have equal avenues to find heart break. And as singular loneliness and heartbreak feel to the person suffering them, they are the most shared experiences of the human condition. Even Elvis Presley in Heart Break Hotel crooned, “Although it’s always crowded, you still can find some room.” Yet, while our advertisers have their grimy paws in the love market, selling us access to companions, home loans, diamonds and holiday packages, it is the heartbreak market that is grossly underserved. Heartbreak is a sad business, but a profitable one.” In a one year old column of The Hindu that I have briefly quoted above, columnist Aditi Mittal after recounting her own emotional upheaval after break up arrestingly asserted that “From solo dinner dates to shopping and haircuts to console yourself, the heartbreak industry can be quite a profitable one.” In a world increasingly embracing lassies faire, where capitalist inducemen...

कविता जब प्रेम में होने की हो तो अलग होती है, प्रेम से अलग होने में अलग होती है और समर्पण और निश्चलता की कविता अलग होती है। क्या हो जब एक ही कवि अलग अलग प्रेम के क्रम में कविता लिखे: प्रेम में होने की कविता, प्रेम से अलगाव की कविता, प्रेम के लिए कविता ? कभी सोचा है क्या एक कवि क्या क्या महसूस करता होगा क्या क्या लिखता होगा और कितना दुखों को छुपाता होगा जिसे वो अपने निजी संपत्ति का हिस्सा मानते हुए किसी से बांटना नहीं चाहता होगा।  ऐसे ही एक कवि है सर्वेश्वर दयाल सक्सेना जिनके जन्म के एक दिन बाद मेरा जन्म दिवस होता है और जो मेरे लिए गौरव और दुख दोनो का कारण है। गौरव इसलिए की ऐसे कवि के साथ जन्म माह बांट रहा हूं जिनकी कविताओं को बार बार पढ़ने के बाद आनंद का ग्रास होता हूं वहीं मेरी कविताएं रोदन राग के सिवा कुछ नहीं हो पाती है इसका दुख है।  आज सर्वेश्वर दयाल सक्सेना जी की तीनों कविताओं का जिक्र करना चाहता हूं जो मेरे काफी करीब है और जिन्हे पढ़कर मैने प्रेम के तीन पड़ावों: प्रेम में होना , प्रेम में न होना और प्रेम के प्रति समर्पण रखना को सिखा है और सीखने की जानने की को...