Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Bio: Dr Lalit Mohan Sharma, born in 1952, has published ten books of English poetry which include ‘Man with A Horn’, ‘Eyes of Silence’ and ‘There’s No Death’. His book, A Three- Step Journey, is English translation of Zahid’s Urdu poems. ‘A Little Fire’ and ‘पटल से प्रांगण तक’ came out in the year 2023, and ‘Imaginary Knots’ is the latest book of English poetry.
Sharma was conferred with ‘Master of Creative Impulse’ at World Poetry Conference in 2019. Galaxy Foundation honoured him with ‘ A Connoisseur of Creative Arts’ Award.
He has been anthologised in several books of poetry, stories and of academic interest.
Choices
Poets, lovers and politicians
Seek out locations of choice:
To tell us of a second coming
Or of the horror in Spring rain;
Let a cloud act as his courier
To his dear woman or to roast
His flesh as food for his beloved;
Politician’s concern for the poor hides
Autocratic ambition and he can uplift
Quite a few by demonising the other.
Dying and Dreaming
Dying is another kind of birth.
After the cutting edge impact
Of iving through a death,
After the funeral rituals,
The grieving gatherings,
Civic registeration, a settling
Down to dear one’s absence,
The mundane takes over,
Reducing death to a fact,
Conscious of a new beginning.
Not Socratic scrutiny nor
Folksy wisdom of the day,
Nor one’s lack of interest
Can explain away the encounters,
Chance situations in dreams and
Seek out the logic behind
An orchestrated meeting,
No more the familiar age
Of the dying hour, though
You are as old as you are!
Time and place are plucked
Out of the familiar equation
And, locked in a relationship
Hitherto never ever magined!
Startling is the power of mind!
Connects with the dear dead
Or those living near about him
On terms of its own choosing.
The Juggler
As times turn dark and dank
Swans shall pick on pebbles
And crows will gobbe pearls!
Half-lierates shall teach scriptures
As devotees listen open- mouthed.
Juggler abandons his street corner
And now leads the show on the road;
Having won hearts and the applause,
He is waving to the gathering crowds.
Frequently he shifts from one turban
To another, or a cap making him look
Entirely a different guy, that at once
It seemed as if he were several men,
Not one who was juggling words like
He were a magician with smart tricks!
His word- play wove a hypnotic gaze
Which raised the common intelligence,
So mesmerised the collective eye-sight,
That woes lost the sting, the personal
Was pushed to the back- burner and
Security of the country or the well- being
Of the unknown poor, the fabled dalit,
Galvanized into a common holy pledge.
