A Journey from Pain to Pleasure

 

Dr. Suresh Singhal

Professor of English (Retd.)

 

POET BIRBHADRA's 'FACES WITHOUT TRACES' :  A Journey from Pain to Pleasure.

Birbhadra Karkidholi's 'FACES WITHOUT TRACES', a beautiful collection of 40 Nepali poems translated into English by Rajni Chhabra, is a welcome addition to the existing storehouse of translated literature in English. Birbhadra is a well-known multi-lingual creative writer and a dedicated editor. Today he is a powerful signature in the literary world, not only of Sikkim but also of international scenario. He has to his credit a large number of literary achievements. The huge quantum of these achievements has been mentioned in the introduction given by the translator, Rajni Chhabra.

The poems of the collection are the representatives of the poet's sensibility and sensitivity, vision of life and literary career. Not only this, the poems also speak volumes of his philosophical convictions and lofty thoughts showing his literary journey of life and career.

Birbhadra is a poet who could not narrate his anguish to himself, whose faith could not persist with him, who could not visualise his own dreams ( My Status).

The poet says that he has received  more love from his own people who left him in lurch as compared to strangers ( Intimacy and Sympathy). Not only this, even his own clouds, fog , smoky dust and mountains didn't allow him own any part of the sky and consequently his name has been defamed (Kanchanjunga Ushers). Even his light is polluted and a different kind of wind is blowing. He is made alert not to open the doors as the evening of his life's journey is full of darkness and that he should not step out ( In Temptation of Light ).

Birbhadra, the poet, has been an exhausted traveller during the arduous journey of his life and career. He could neither get a resting place nor quench his thirst for literary growth and for name and fame. He oftentimes has failed to climb the heights of the Himalaya of his life and literary career (Viewing Himalaya).

The poet is unhappy to think that he has no identity of his own so far, he has been a person lost in crowd, time is not with him, life does not seem to be life as such, rather time and life are indifferent to him. (Time Could not be Mine)

His inability to flow with time and speed has made him anguished from within on the one hand, and his life has been full of turns on the other (Anguish of Stagnancy).

Birbhadra the poet has been scared to think that why he didn't reach his destination even after flying or flowing without drowning. He has been regularly struggling to catch up the targeted destination, but somehow hasn't been successful (I Intend to Ask Only This Much).

The poet tries to console himself by saying that the doors of his life will remain open and time will decide his destiny (Time Will Itself Tell).

The poet Birbhadra is not happy with the modern ways of living in a city, it's crazy crowd,  arrogance , artificially,  lack of values and so on. Hence, he wants to move back to his own village, his home so as to enjoy natural life and environment away from the maddening crowd,  mechanicality and pollution (Beware Neighbour). The poet feels caught in the worldly trap and even after getting released himself like a fish, he has to keep wriggling and suffering from  pain (Myself: A Fish). The poet has a strong conviction that the road of his life has been damaged, but tries to resolve this conflict (On This Road).

But this is the one side of the picture of the poet's journey. He is not only disappointed and frustrated all the time. He has an optimistic attitude too. He is confident that the journey of his life and career that started in darkness will certainly culminate in the light of positivity (This Journey).

The poet has been still waiting for the good time to come though the leaves have been withered, and birds have not returned ( Birds Have Not Returned Yet). At this point of time the stunned poet stands by the roadside watching the dusk and trying to interpret the true meaning of life. He tries to find life in his inner world and keeps probing and probing (You Will Miss Me One Day).

In the present century, the translation has acquired a very special relevance and a highly significant position in the world of literary production. In such a situation ' Faces Without Traces' holds an important place in the world of literary writing. As the world shrinks, the need for literary translation expands. It is a time when we have not one but two literatures ---the one produced by its own writers, and the other translated from the world's languages. This secondary literature will often have the most immediate and energizing effect on writers of the language into which it has been translated. In this light, Rajni Chhabra , the well known poetess and translator has tried her level best to transfer the cultural nuances into the target language. The poems have indeed been translated in a soulful manner. This good work of translation in English bears the testimony to the fact in the translator's statement--" While translating from Nepali to English, I have tried my level best to retain the feel and fragrance of the poems intact."

On the whole, this can be said in the words of Rajni Chhabra, " The poetry of Birbhadra  symbolizes his unflinching attitude towards life situations. Pangs of separation and pathos of mind are given vent profusely in his poems...showing his abundant love for Nature and its powerful description and emotional attachment for mountains and deep concern for environment."

On the surface level,  the poet's poems undertake the geographical and Nature's journey, but on the deeper level , they explore the existential and philosophical  aspects of his journey. The two ends  of the  geographical and philosophical journey seem to be aspirations and fulfillment,  materialistic craze and spiritual bliss. This is the real struggle of not only human life, but also the poet's own life that has been impressively discussed by the poet of the poems.

As far as the thematic pattern of the poems goes, it is the philosophical picturization of the comprehensive phenomena of man's concerns in terms of intense experience and possibilities of resolution. Within this philosophical framework, the poems portray man's awareness and experience of life's tragic intensities, including various situations of conflict, struggle,  exploitation, pains,  tribulations and resentment,  though most of them leading towards pleasant scenario verging either on negation or sustenance as the case may be. It is within this context that Birbhadra's poems depict  various characters as individuals facing inner compulsions and outer urgencies in the philosophical context.

This collection of Birbhadra's poems is not only the picturization of the mesmerizing journey of the enchanting skirts and contours of Sikkim,  but also the mysterious and mystical journey of self--discovery and the labyrinths of human consciousness. The purpose of writing poems is different for different poets. These poems  expand to argue on life and its burning problems forthrightly and realistically with stress on human relationships, social, economic, and philosophical anxieties. Poetry for the poet seems to be a quest for change to adjust to  sinnously undulating time  for inner journey, intolerable aberrations, cultural heritage , inner and outer events. It highlights the unexplored areas of human existence and a personal journey of sensitive subjects.

Philosophically, the poems seem to be deeply influenced by the  unfathomable complexities of the inner self and , the endeavor to understand the enigma  called life. It talks about the sake of life, to shape life and to change life. This is the philosophical aura of Birbhadra's poems.

 

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