Poetic Journey of A Bohemian

Poetic Journey of A Bohemian

Shiv Kumar was a born poet who migrated from the poetic region of Sialkot to Batala at the most miserable moment of human history. "It was the Independence of the sub-continent in 1947 - the dreadful, painful, horrible, miserable, devastating, slaughtering and marauding phenomenon, which bisected the trouble stricken North India." The pangs of separation are recurrent themes of this great lyricist of the land. He has been hailed as one of the greatest poets of all times.

Shiv Batalavi was a poet and a singer. He presented his poetry by reciting it himself. As a singer, he was discovered by and then introduced to the poetic stage by Dalip Singh, Deputy Director, Languages Department, Punjab, Patiala, at one of the Kavi Darbars the department would organize in different parts of Punjab, in early 1960s while Shiv was a student in F.Sc. He would accompany Dalip Singh, whom he addressed as "Bhaji", to these Kavi Darbars and earned popularity in short span of time. His book "Dard Mandaan Dian Aanhin" published in 1964 by Darbar Publishing House, Amritsar is dedicated to "Dalip Singh di dosti de Naa", collection of 27 poems. During eulogy at his funeral ceremony, Shiv was compared with 'Waris Shah' by Dalip Singh and Bishan Singh Samundari, then Vice Chancellor of Guru Nanak University, Amritsar.

Shiv was not just a poet of a few dozen popular poems nor was his poetry limited to a couple of topics. He was a very versatile poet of many different styles and a wide range of subjects. Throughout his brief poetic career, his poetry shows a continuous progression from the early pangs of birha ( pain of separation from ones lover) to increasingly complex emotions and different reactions to his inner sufferings and towards society at large. His sense of his own identity also went through many changes. He travelled a great distance from his first collection of poems Peeran Da Paraga [A Handful of Pains], published 1960, to his last major work Mein Te Mein [Me and Myself], published 1970.Following is a brief survey of his published poetry:

1. Peeran Da Paraga (A Handful of Pains) (1960). Shiv’s first published collection of poetry, consisting of 25 poems. It includes poems that he had written between 1957 and 1960 expressing pain and sorrow of separation and his desire for death. It includes some of his early popular poems.
2. Lajwanti (The Shy Maid) (1961). Within a single year after the publication of his first collection of poetry, Shiv appeared to have arrived at a level of maturity that was not as prominent in his earlier poetry. This collection has some remarkable poems on many different subjects. In all of his poetry, there are certain subjects that he has touched upon once, writing a memorable poem on it, and then never coming back to the same subject. In this collection, Sheesho, an exceptionally beautiful and comparatively long poem, falls in that category. Shiv’s description of the exploitation of a poor village girl by the rich landowner is remarkable both for its poetic qualities and for Shiv’s heart wrenching pity and compassion about the poor girl’s plight.
3. Aatte Deean Chirian (The Sparrows of Kneaded Flour) (1962). This collection is quite different from the previous two collections, both in matter as well as in its various themes. Shiv experimented with different themes under a dominant mood of sensuous feelings. He also returned to the topic of birha in Shikra (A Falcon) and couple of other poems. Once again, there are poems in this collection that display his wide versatility of subjects, including various themes that are limited to single poems, i.e., Hijra (Eunuch) and Zakham (A Wound). Shiv also further experimented in some poems by writing them in the prevalent style of expressing post-modern consciousness. Shiv was awarded the first prize from the Language Department of Punjab for this collection.
4. Mainu Vida Karo (Bid Me farewell) (1963). This is another collection of songs full of symbols of death and pain of separation that he expressed in different forms, including the bemoaning of a love-torn girl addressed to her father in Dharmee Babula. Once again demonstrating his exceptional talent of interweaving Punjab’s culture in this poems.
5. Dard Mandaan Dian Hanian (1964). This is a small book of 27 poems and songs Shiv compiled and dedicated to his friend, whom he considered his elder brother, Dalip Singh. It was published by Darbar Publishing House, Amritsar.
6. Birha Toon Sultan (1964). Shiv compiled most of his work into a book with 111 of his best known poems and dedicated this book to "Amrita Pritam te Mohan Singh de Naa". It was published by Lok Sahit Parkashan, Amritsar.
7. Luna (1965). Shiv was awarded the Sahitya Academy award for this book in 1967, and this epic-like verse play is considered by many of Shiv’s critics as his most significant literary achievement. Luna not only added a new dimension to the versatility of Shiv’s poetry; it also recast, to some degree, Shiv’s entire corpus in a new light. In particular, the profound and perceptive empathy of women’s emotions and feelings as victims of social inequity and injustice that Shiv portrayed in Luna, allows a deeper understanding of Shiv’s concept of love and gender-relations in his poetry than the stereotype of women as the poet’s self-centred object of desire. Similarly, the masterful use of imagery that set the tone and atmosphere of each of the eight acts of the verse play, helps to highlight Shiv’s superb poetic techniques of equally expert use of imagery in his other poems. In Luna, Shiv reworked the theme of Puran Bhagat, a mythical folklore of Punjab about the implications of marrying a young girl with an old man. In the traditional story the young wife is depicted as an evil villain in her relationship with the grown-up son of her husband from his first marriage. Shiv wrote his poem from the perspective of injustice to the young wife. He altogether changed Luna's character: rather than repeating the traditional portrayal of a wicked, lustful and cruel woman, he challenged the male-dominated society to reconsider their norms and moral values by making Luna a sympathetic character. Shiv presented a remarkably incisive and insightful appreciation of women’s sufferings in a patriarchy and exposed its moral values as the tools that force women to sacrifice their individuality to fit in various roles assigned to them. Reading the deliberate politics of the monarchical discourse in the legend, Shiv presented it from women’s point of view. More importantly, Shiv rejected the glorification of patriarchal assignment of women’s roles and instead forcefully brought out Luna's individuality. "Shiv Kumar … views her sexual subjugation and deprivation as a basic injustice to her and cause of her suffering. He vindicates the veracity of her Being by asserting her right to choose and by condemning her deprivation in marriage - through her own voice. In Luna body is not merely a site of sexual desire but her humanity asserted through valuing and articulating the needs of her body and condemning their deprivation in marriage. The play is a strong assertion of woman’s sexuality which has been ignored, abused, repressed or mythologized (as passive) in patriarchy." [source?] Shiv used strong sensual imagery to highlight Luna’s individual feelings. She repeatedly refers to herself as “fire,” “fire maiden” or "women-fire".
8. Main Te Main (Me and Myself) (1970). Main Te Main - the last major work of Shiv - is a long poem of seventy-five pages with a unique style of conception as well as execution, in modern Punjabi poetry. Psychological background is the operative here, as Shiv himself mentions "The legend in this poem is not mine, nor is its truth my truth...whatever is mine in the truth of this legend is the truth of my being not of my person. Its psychological background is only a phenomenon of the intellectual and moral scepticism of the present generation. The truth of the hero of this poem is a protest against the false and hollow moral values of today. It is the revolt of modern man's disintegrated personality against the death of his true being". The poet describes his birth as the result of his mother's sexual hunger even when she is an unmarried woman. This hunger is sunk deep in the being of every woman. The poet questions the very fine nuances of morality as understood in very gross terms by a common man of today. Main te Main makes one realize as why this is the last major work of Shiv - he has given his blood to its words and didn't care to save even one drop for his own physical life.