Kaju Ki Roti

Pankaj Chaturvedis poetry resonates with readers who understand that poetrys most important task is to thwart the genocide of meaning in language. All forms of tyrannical regimes are complicit in this genocide. By entrenching language in rhetoric, democracy can be transformed into mobocracy. Destruction can be presented as development. Injustice can be given the appearance of justice. Genocide can be transformed into a gathering of national pride. Lies can be transformed into truth. Poetry exposes this deception and brings about the rebirth of the true meanings of words. Raghuveer Sahays poetry fulfilled this responsibility admirably. He observed that when rulers laugh, saying, This is the last moment of democracy, they not only destroy the meaning of democracy but also transform laughter into the joy of murder. Pankajs poetry observes that when a leader says, I am living for the country, his intention is that his life itself should be understood as the countrys life! Pankajs poetry records that today, the smile that suppresses dissent is manifesting not as violence, but as kindness. This is not a sign of a failed democracy, but of the rise of fascism. The journey of Hindi poetry from Raghuvir Sahay to Pankaj Chaturvedi is a journey from the last moment of democracy to the first moment of fascism. The horrified spectators of a pre-announced murder on the open street no longer merely watch the spectacle but also cheer for the murderers. In their insistence on exposing every hypocrisy of language, Pankajs poetry eschews the trappings of poetry to the point of not even appearing like poetry. This audacity-like courage gives his poetry the power to be the true and transparent poetry of our times. Ashutosh Kumar