Unearthing Indian Values and Ethoes in the Poetry of Keki N. Daruwala
Exploring Indian culture and landscapes in the poetry of Keki N. Daruwala
by Dr. Sarita Sinha*,
- Published in Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540
Volume 16, Issue No. 4, Mar 2019, Pages 2102 - 2104 (3)
Published by: Ignited Minds Journals
ABSTRACT
Keki N. Daruwalla is one of the leading contemporary Indian poets who write in English. Daruwalla did all his rising up in India so it is normal for him to portray Indic scenes and people of this nation. Daruwalla’s poetry, similar to the poetry of his equally talented contemporaries is nothing if not Indian. An Indian poet has to have the recognizably Indian elements in him if he is any good An Indian poet can be an expatriate an can write about isolation and footlessness, but even then, in his imaginative reflection of experience, he will remain essentially Indian. Daruwalla is neither an expatriate nor is an alienated from Indian life and therefore discovering the „Indian‟ element in him is emphasizing the obvious. His poetry is permeated with various aspects of Indian sensuality. His poetry is vivid bright and picturesque view of the colourful landscape of Northern India. Daruwala Was awarded Sahitya Academy Award, 1984. With the publication of his first book, as now, in In 1970, Daruwala established itself as a title to be reckoned with in Indian poetry. Senior Indian poet and literary critic Nissim Ezekiel applauded his work as reliable evidence not only of the poetic talent, but also of literary creativity, perseverance, intellectual strength and social consciousness. Over a period of nine books and more than three decades of poetry, Daruwala has come a long way, both formally and thematically. However, it retains some strong characteristics an ironic attitude to memories multi-layered, contradictory realities of Native Indian life, a anxiety with diverse cultural, historic and mythic landscapes, a terse, vigorous and tensile style, flexible imagism, continuous narrative drive, an capability to see between metrical patterns and free verse, and a capacity to combine an epic canvas with a miniaturist’s eye for detail.
KEYWORD
Keki N. Daruwala, Indian poetry, Indian values, Indian sensuality, Northern India, Sahitya Academy Award, ironic attitude, cultural landscapes, historical landscapes, mythic landscapes