Ten twentieth-century Indian poets (1976)  by  R.Parthasarathy

About author:

R. Parthasarathy (Rajagopal Parthasarathy), born in 1934 in Tirupparaiturai, Tamil Nadu, India, is a significant figure in Indian English poetry. He is not only a poet but also a translator, editor, and scholar. He is best known for his ability to interweave classical Tamil and Indian traditions with modern English poetry, bringing a unique cultural perspective to his works. Parthasarathy's literary contributions reflect themes of exile, cultural dislocation, identity, and linguistic struggle.

He pursued his education in India and later at the University of Leeds in England, where he studied under prominent British poet Geoffrey Hill. He has served as a lecturer and academic in India and abroad, including positions at universities in the United States and India. Parthasarathy’s expertise in classical Tamil literature led him to translate ancient Tamil poetry into English, making these rich texts accessible to a global audience.

Major Works

1.     Ten Twentieth-Century Indian Poets (1976): As the editor, Parthasarathy brought together a diverse range of Indian poets writing in English, making this anthology a key reference point for Indian English literature.

2.     Rough Passage (1977): This is Parthasarathy's only collection of original poetry, divided into three sections: "Exile," "Trial," and "Homecoming." The central theme is the experience of dislocation and exile, both cultural and linguistic. Parthasarathy explores his alienation from his native Tamil culture and his efforts to reconnect with it. The work is semi-autobiographical, reflecting his journey as an Indian educated in English and his search for his roots. The poem "Exile," part of this collection, is particularly famous for exploring themes of identity and the relationship between the poet and language.

3.     The Tale of an Anklet: An Epic of South India- The Cilappatikāram of Iḷaṅkō Aṭikaḷ: (1993): This is a notable translation of the ancient Tamil epic Cilappatikāram. Parthasarathy’s work in translating this epic is highly regarded for its precision and poetic style, bringing the classic to an English-speaking audience while maintaining the original's cultural depth.

 

Ten Twentieth Century Indian Poets- Introduction:

Since Its First Publication In 1976, This Book Has Become The Most Widely Accepted And Used Anthology Of Modern Indian Poetry In English. Compiled By Rajagopal Parthasarathy, Himself An Eminent Writer, It Carries Verse By The Country`S Best-Known Poets : A. K. Ramanujan, Nissim Ezekiel, Kamala Das, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Keki Daruwalla, Gieve Patel, Arun Kolatkar, Jayanta Mahapatra and Shiv K. Kumar, As Well As a  Brief Introductory Notes On Each Of Them.

 

 

CONTENTS OF THE ANTHOLOGY

1.Keki N. Daruwalla ( 6 poems)

    from Under Orion, 1970:

         from The Epileptic

         The Ghaghra in Spate

         from Ruminations

    from Apparition in April, 1971

         Fire-Hymn

         Routine

    from Crossing of Rivers, 1976:

           Death of a Bird             

2.Kamala Das ( 6 poems)

    from Summer in Calcutta, 1965:

         The Freaks

         My Grandmother's House

         A Hot Noon in Malabar

         The Sunshine Cat

    from The Descendants. 1967:

         The Invitation

         The Looking-glass

3.Nissim Ezekiel ( 8 poems)

    from The Unfinished Man__, 1960

         Enterprise

    From The Exact Name, 1965:

         Philosophy

         Night of the Scorpion

         Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher

         The Visitor

    from Hymns in Darkness, 1976:

         Background, Casually

         Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.

         Poem of the Separation

4.Arun Kolatkar ( 2 poems)

    from manuscripts:

         the boatride

    from Jejuri, 1976

         Makarand

5.Shiv K. Kumar ( 5 poems)

    from Cobwebs in the Sun, 1974:

         Indian Women

         My Co-respondent

         Pilgrimage

    from Subterfuges, 1976:

         Days in New York

         Kali

6.Jayanta Mahapatra ( 6 poems)

    from A Rain of Rites, 1976:

         Indian Summer

         A Missing Person

         The Whorehouse in a Calcutta Street

    from manuscripts:

         The Logic

         Grass

         Lost

7.Arvind Krishna Mehrotra ( 4 poems)

    from Middle Earth, 1984:

         The Sale

         Continuities

         A Letter to a Friend

    from Nine Enclosures, 1976:

         Remarks of an Early Biographer

8.R. Parthasarathy ( 3 poems)

    from Rough Passage, 1977

         from Exile

         from Trial

         from Homecoming

9.Gieve Patel ( 6 poems)

    from Poems, 1966:

         On Killing a Tree

         Servants

         Nargol

         Naryal Purnima

    from How Do You Withstand, Body, 1976:

         Commerce

         O My Very Own Cadaver

10. A. K. Ramanujan ( 6 poems)

    from The Striders, 1966:

         Looking for a Cousin on a Swing

         A River

    from Relations, 1971:

         Of Mothers, among Other Things

         Love Poem for a Wife

         Small-scale Reflections on a Great House

         Obituary

 

 

EXCERTS FROM ANTHOLOGY

1) Keki N. (NASSERWANJI) DHARUWALLA -

About Poet:

Renowned poet and former IPS officer. Born in Lahore to a Parsi family. Won Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1984 for his poetry collection, The Keeper of the Dead. Received Padma Sri in 2014.

 

Excerpts:

Death of a Bird

Under an overhang of crags

fierce bird-love

the monals mated, clawed and screamed;

the female brown and nondescript

the male was king, a fire-dream!

My barrel spoke one word of lead;

the bird came down, the king was dead,

 

2) KAMALA DAS:

About Poet:

KAMALA DAS (1934-2009): The mother of Modern Indian English poetry’- by Times Magazine.

She is a well-known Kerala writer who writes equally well both in English and Malayalam. Born as Madhavi Kutty, converted to Islam in 1999 and changed her name as Kamala Surayya. She is confessional poet (like Robert Lowell, Silvia Plath, Anne Sexton….). She is known as Mother of Malayalam Literature

1.     An Introduction- poem- She can speak three languages, write in two, dream in one. She says that she doesn’t know politics, she discusses her puberty, marriage, sex in her life boldly. Ends with “I too call myself I”

2.     Summer in Calcutta 1965- 1^st book of poems: It is poem in it-

3.     The Descendants 1967- 2^nd book of poems

4.     The Old Playhouse, and Other Poems (1973)– 3^rd book of poems, discovers love making has made her mind old playhouse. She feels like a sparrow captured by husband, feels only death can help her.

5.     Ente Katha 1973 (published in English as My Story 1976) -Autobiography, written in Malayalam, translated to English.

6.     My Grandmother’s house- poem- ancestral house ruined after death of her grandmother.

7.     Alphabet of Lust1976-her famous novel.

8.     short stories:

a.     “A Doll for the Child Prostitute” (1977)

b.     “Padmavati the Harlot” (1992).

 

Excerpts:

The Invitation

I have a man's fist in my head today

Clenching, unclenching....

I have got all the Sunday evening pains

The sea is garrulous today. Come in.

Come in. What do you lose by dying, and

Besides, your losses are my gains.

 

3) NISSIM EZEKIEL 1924-2004

About Poet:

He is an Indian Jewish poet, actor, playwright, Barometer of Modern India’s Literary atmosphere; father of post-independence Indian English verse, also called as poet of city (due to urban life in his works). He received Sahitya Akademi in 1983 and Padma-Shri in 1988.

1.   Time To Change 1952- first collection

2.   Latter-Day Psalms 1982- his collection of poems- won Sahitya Academy Award in 1983.

3.   Background casually- poem- calls his self as a Poet Rascal Clown. Opening line: “A poet - rascal - clown was born, The frightened child who would not eat”

4.   Poet, Lover and Bird watcher- Poets are compared to bird watchers. Says best Poet wait for words. The common thing in these three is: “Waiting and Watching”

5.   Night of the Scorpion- poem, how the scorpion stung the poet's mother and the mother's love for her children.

Opening stanza:

I remember the night my mother

was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours

of steady rain had driven him

to crawl beneath a sack of rice.

Famous line: My mother only said: Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children.

6.   Jewish Wedding in Bombay- poem

7.   Patriot- it is one of a group of poems termed ‘very Indian English Poem”. It is a lively humorous poem of forty-six lines.  It is part of group of poems termed as Very Indian English poems=uses Indian English,

Opening stanza:

I am standing for peace and non - violence

Why world is fighting,

Why all people of world

Are not following Mahatma Gandhi,

I am simply not understanding.

Ancient Indian Wisdom is 100 % correct.

I should say even 200 % correct.

But modern generation is neglecting—

Too much going for fashion and foreign thing.

8.   Good Bye Party Miss Pushpa TS- use of Indian English, Speaker addresses the crowd at Miss Pushpa’s party to wish Bon Voyage.

Famous lines:

“She always says yes and smiles:”

“Just Now only I will do it”

9.       Naipaul’s India and Mine 1984-essay-written as a reply to V.S. Naipaul’s “An Area of Darkness”. He writes, "While I am not a Hindu and my background makes me a natural outsider, circumstances and decisions relate me to India. In other countries I am a foreigner. In India I am an Indian.”

10.   Jumpo, in 1961- literary monthly co-founded by him

 

Excerpts:

Background Casually

A poet-rascal-clown was born,

The frightened child who would not eat

Or sleep, a boy of meagre bone.

He never learnt to fly a kite,

His borrowed top refused to spin.

 

I went to Roman Catholic school,

A mugging jew among the wolves.

They told me I had killed the Christ,

That year I won the scripture prize.

A Muslim sportsman boxed my ears.

 

Goodbye party for Miss Pushpa

Friends,

Our dear sister

is departing for foreign

in two three days,

and

we are meeting today

to wish her bon voyage.

 

You are all knowing, friends,

what sweatness is in Miss Pushpa

I don't mean only external sweetness

but internal sweetness.

Miss Pushpa is smiling and smiling

even for no reason

but simply because she is feeling.

 

4) ARUN BALAKRISHNA KOLATKAR (1932-2004)

About the poet:

Indian poet who wrote in both Marathi and English. Wellknown for Jejuri: collection of 31 poems-Jejuri is a temple of Khandoba is the local deity, also an incarnation of Shiva in Maharastra. It depicts Kolatkar's visit to ruins of Jejuri, a city in Pune, which the poet visited in 1964.  His Marathi verse collection Bhijki Vahi (2004) won Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005

 

Excerpts:

The boat ride:

the long hooked poles

know the nooks and crannies

find flaws in stonework

or grappling with granite

ignite a flutter

of unexpected pigeons

and the boat is jockeyed away from

the landing

 

after a pair of knees

has shot up and streaked

down the mast after

the confusion of hands about

the rigging

 

from Jejuri: Makarand

Take my shirt off

and go in there to do pooja?

No thanks.

Not me.

But you go right ahead

if that's what you want to do.

 

Give me the matchbox

before you go,

will you?

I will be out in the courtyard

where no one will mind

if I smoke.

 

5) SHIV K KUMAR (1921-2017):

About the Poet:

born in Lahore, died in Hyderabad. He has published thirteen volumes of poetry, five novels, two collections of short stories, a play, and this translation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry into English.

He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987 for his collection of poems Trapfalls in the Sky. In 2001, he was awarded with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to literature.

1.     Indian Women

2.     Rickshaw Wallah

3.     The Sun Temple, Konark

 

Excerpts:

Indian Women

In this triple-baked continent

women don’t etch angry eyebrows

on mud walls.

Patiently they sit

like empty pitchers

on the mouth of the village well

pleating hope in each braid of their Mississippi-long hair

looking deep into the water’s mirror

for the moisture in their eyes.

With zodiac doodlings on the sands

they guard their tattooed thighs

Waiting for their men’s return

till even the shadows

roll up their contours and are gone beyond the hills.

 

My Co-respondent

Not my rival but co-sharer,

your saliva is on my lips.

Often when she made the gesture

you were the prime mover.

 

    Just this difference though —

    while you rose like some giraffe

    I slouched over worms

    climbing up diamond-knots of wet grass.

    Each night I limped into my lone self

    where the dead croaked like frogs.

 

Pilgrimage

Not all of us spoke the same language—

some cowered under the sun's threats

and the dwindling supplies,

others felt amused

at the enforced equalities.

The bystanders took us for a Persian

mosaic of some insidious design.

 

Sometimes the urge to feign

was paramount. I pretended ataxia

to lag behind and visualize

more sharply the road's last, devious curve.

 

The trees on either side

would have given us a guard of honour

had our leader not defiled them

with blasphemies.

 

6) JAYANTA MAHAPATRA

About poet:

JAYANTA MAHAPATRA (1928-2023) He is a physics lecturer. He is the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Academy award for English poetry. His poems "Indian Summer" and "Hunger" are regarded as classics in modern Indian English literature. He received Padma Shri in 2009, but returned it in 2015 to protest against rising intolerance in India.

Mahapatra was part of a trio of poets who laid the foundations of Indian English Poetry, which included A. K. Ramanujan and R. Parthasarathy.

Mahapatra authored 18 books of poems, of which seven are in Odia and the rest in English.

He said, “I began writing poetry at a late stage, like Wallace Stevens or Thomas Hardy. Poetry gave me an opportunity to love people, to love my fellow beings.”

1.   Relationship:Sahitya academy award in 1981 for English Poetry for this poem.

2.   Dawn at Puri: taken from the collection “A Rain of Rites”, describes Orissa’s Landscapes and Poori Jagannath Temple. He observes numerous crows on the beach and a skull which symbolizes the millions of poor and hungry in India.

 

He explores the intricacies of human relationships, especially those of lovers... there is an unexpected quietude about the poems.  He says:

What appears to disturb me is the triumph of silence in the mind; and if these poems are inventions, they are also longings amid the flow of voices toward a need that I feel is definitive. A poem makes me see out of it in all directions, like a sieve... 

Love offers a sort of relief from the uncertainties one has come to expect of life...  The economy of phrasing and startling images recall the subh Asitas of classical Sanskrit.  p.59

 

Excerpts:

Missing person:

In the darkened room

a woman

cannot find her reflection in the mirror

waiting as usual

at the edge of sleep

In her hands she holds

the oil lamp

whose drunken yellow flames

know where her lonely body hides.

 

The whorehouse in a Calcutta street

Walk right in. it is yours.

Where the house smiles wryly into the lighted street.

Think of the women

you wished to know and haven't.

The faces in the posters, the public hoardings.

And who are all there together,

those who put the house there

for the startled eye to fall upon,

where pasts join, and where they part.

 

Grass:

Have I to negotiate it?

Moving slowly, sometimes throwing my great grief

across its shoulders, sometimes trailing it at my side,

I watch a little hymn

turn the ground beneath my feet,

a tolerant soil making its own way to the light of the sun.

 

7) ARVIND KRISHNA MEHROTRA (Born in Lahore in 1947)

About the Poet:

He is the author of seven volumes of poetry.

 

Excerpts:

The Sale

It's yours for the price, and these

old bits have character too. Today

they may not be available.

Naturally I can't press you

to buy them, and were I not leaving

— You heard the sun choke with an eclipse? —

I would never have thought of selling.

You may take your time though, and

satisfy yourself. This is Europe,

that America, this scarebug Asia,

that groin Africa, an amputated

Australia. These five. I don't have more.

Maybe another egg-laying island remains

in the sea. You remember in my letter

I wrote of forests? They're wrapped

in leaves and carrying them

shouldn’t be difficult.

This skull contains the rivers.

About that I'm sorry. Had you come

yesterday I could have given you two.

I'll take another look. Yes, I do

have a mummy somewhere; only last night

the pyramids came

and knocked at my gate for a long time.

 

Continuities

This is about the green miraculous trees,

And old clocks on stone towers,

And playgrounds full of light

And dark blue uniforms.

At eight I'm a Boy Scout and make a tent

By stretching a bedsheet over parallel bars

And a fire by burning rose bushes,

I know half a dozen knots and drink

Tea from enamel mugs.

I wear khaki drill shorts, note down

The number-plates of cars,

Make a perfect about-turn for the first time.

In September I collect my cousins’ books

And find out the dates of the six Mughals

To secretly write the history of India.

I see Napoleon crossing the Alps

On a white horse.

 

8) R. PARTHASARATHY:

About the Poet:

 

 

Excerpts:

from Trial

Mortal as I am, I face the end

with unspeakable relief,

knowing how I should feel

 

if I were stopped and cut off ,

Were I to clutch at the air,

straw in my extremity,

 

how should I not scream,

'I haven't finished?'

Yet that too would pass unheeded.

 

Love, I haven't the key

to unlock His gates.

Night curves.

 

I grasp your hand

in a rainbow of touch. Of the dead

I speak nothing but good. 

 

9) GIEVE PATEL (1940-2023)

About the Poet:

Well known physician and poet. He belongs to Green Movement (group of writers)which was involved in an effort to protect the environment. His notable poems include, How Do You Withstand (1966), Body (1976), Mirrored Mirroring (1991) and On killing a tree.

He also wrote three plays, titled Princes (1971), Savaksa (1982) and Mr. Behram (1987)

Excerpts:

 

 

 

10) A. K. RAMANUJAN 1929-1993:

About the Poet:

He is renowned Indian English poet who worked as a Professor in the USA.

1.     Is There an Indian Way of Thinking 1990-essay

2.     Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five examples and Three thoughts on Translation (1987)-essay, summarizes the history of Ramayana. Portrayed Rama and Sita as siblings, controversial

3.     The Striders 1966: This poem explains about the human being who is very powerful in every aspect. Strider is a small water insect which is a New England name for it. Insect may be small but he explains it from different angle. In the first stanza of the poem he gave the idea about his physical appearance and made it as source of idea.

4.     Speaking of Shiva 1973: is a collection of poems by A.K. Ramanujan called Vacana, is an active approach, stands in opposition to both the Sruti (which is heard) and the Smrti (which is remembered). He mentions that heart of vacana is devotion to God (hear a particular form of God: Siva).

5.     Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man (1976) -- translated U.R. Ananta Murthy’s novel into English. It deals with eternal questions; with the question of who should cremate Naranappa, a brahmin who has rejected brahminhood, with the question of what Praneshacharya, a pious man in whom life is finally stirred by the female contact, should now do.

6.     Love Poem for a Wife:

Excerpts: