Uttar Kabeer Aur Anya Kavitayen

Uttar Kabir and Other Poems is Kedarnath Singhs fifth collection of poems, collecting poems written over the past six and a half years. This period has been a period of rapid change, both externally and internally. Some of its echoes can be heard in the poems in this collection. However, a significant feature is that many poems have emerged from a world of memory, where many equal and disparate layers of time are simultaneously active. By this collection, the poets language has acquired a new transparency. Nothing is forbidden or unacceptable in this world of languagebut here, there is an increased reliance on words that have long been used in human interaction. In the poems of this collection, the poets relationship with his place has shifted slightly, a hint of which can be seen in poems like On Coming to the Village. This new ground in his work suggests a kind of internal displacement. This pain of displacement can be seen in many other poemseven in Kudaal. One might say that this marks a new departure in the poets poetic developmentthough these poems, by their very nature, make no such claim. Many of the poems in this collection have an inherent questioning quality. They often ask questionsless about the outside world and more about themselves. The relatively long poem titled Uttar Kabir is a stark example of this questioning restlessness. Then, in the face of this torrent of questioning, even liberation seems ironic, and so does the poets work itselfcan I save what is rotting, and there is obviously a lot that is rotting, by writing poetry?