International Poet – Review & Content Writer | peace poetry | Literature and Art of India |
Translation of English Poem exclusively composed for UNOs – INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE 2020 – Translated into FIVE (Portugese, Spanish, Romanian, French & Russian) languages by Global Peace Ambassadors, FRANCE and into Spanish by Star of Peace Project, BRAZIL
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In the International Contemporary Debate Contest – 2020, organized by the Poetry Education Academy, NIGERIA, awarded the proud honor, conferring me with the BEST TEACHER AWARD
In the International Contemporary Debate Contest – 2020, organized by the Poetry Education Academy, NIGERIA, awarded the proud honor, conferring me with the BEST TEACHER AWARD
Secured First Place in the Picture-prompt International Poetry Contest organized by the ANAND ASRAM ABHIRUP SAHITYA PORIBAR, BANGLADESH (Govt. Recognized) during August, 2020.
The first “World Newspaper Poetry TV Competition” in 2020 was officially held by the International Journalists Association, World Newspaper, World Daily, World Television, World Satellite TV, World Live Television, World News, and World Toutiao. A total of 607 domestic and foreign authors had received contributions from Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Japan, India, United Kingdom, Italy, Tajikistan, Turkey, Bolivia, Canada, United States, Denmark, Venezuela, Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Mauritius and other regions. The electronic award certificates and medals of foreign award-winning authors were all announced.
On the 74th Independence Day of India, 2020, the Gujarat Sahitya Academy and Motivational Strips have honored 105 prominent poets of India. I am elated to be one of the recipients of the prestigious Honor bestowed for “Literary Excellence At Par with Global Standards” in the field of literature. That apart, another 245 eminent writers from 80 countries have also been chosen for this Honor.
of poetic ripples
Alexey Yakovtsev from Odessa, is a New Age spiritual researcher, mystic & educationalist who lives, self-sufficient on the land, in a forest village deep in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, with his wife, Maria, their educational project being called The Sothis Programme, their emblem, the Dog-star
F O R E W O R D
If you intend to read T. Ashok Chakravarthy's verses in the way that we have got used to reading any book, you will be disappointed. Moreover, your employment will seem to you to be an empty expenditure of time, you will miss out and ask yourselves, why you still read on, instead of interrupting this employment. But try to read these verses by the soul. More correctly, it is not necessary to read them, they need to be felt. Yes, yes, just by the soul…
And at first you will not feel anything. A little later you are surprised to feel unfamiliar internal sensations, if the dialogue with the soul is not familiar yet to you. But then you will be dipped into the world of the soul.
You will see no longer a boy, but not yet a youth. Then it will be the young man searching by love and light. Here he already imagines, with what he would like to see the future. With what it should be to like all. But how to achieve this? This remains an insoluble riddle …
And the shadows, which are around, again lean on the man. They are different, but there are a lot of them, and this is our today's life. Life in a shadow and in shadows. And there is only hope for man today. Hope and dreams. But is that all there is and nothing more?
But what still remains for the man in this world without pure water and air, when the people destroy all around themselves, and even similarly themselves, where the people are pleased and dance because there are millions of those like them as they suffer from the wars, begun by themselves. Again there are shadows and gloom; also dawn is not visible. And still that loneliness of a man surrounded with other people.
It is terrible, but it is harden. Because the man has an opportunity to see, that one-sole thing in this world that remains constant. This is a hope …
This book represents a philosophy of life. You see each man has a philosophy. Only not all of us are capable to stating it. Anyway, this is one more point of view, one more picture of the world, in which we live and of man in this world. And of the world inside man. And it is perfectly, because, the more people are able to describe this world, the more real it will become in our eyes. The more close we shall appear to that, tomorrow's world, which is so promised because there are no wars, injustice, famine and violence in it, because man lives in Light and Love in it.
So, chose: this philosophy of life can give a good lesson and basis for several following steps in the searches of the soul in each of you. And even if this is not pleasant to you, - be not afflicted. You can tell yourselves, that T. Ashok Chakravarthy has helped you to investigate one more hiding place of your alter egos where you were not yet, and where you have not found the light of the soul. Then it is necessary to thank the author and to continue your searches in the other directions, understanding nevertheless that any small particle has increased your individual experience with this book. And, the means, the time is not lost by the gift.
Well, but if the world of your soul has opened up to you, while you read this book, it means, that T. Ashok Chakravarthy has presented you what is most precious, that is being a man in this world. He has presented himself for you and that is a Divine gift!
Light and Love,
Alexey Yakovtsev
U K R A I N E
Throughout my many years of close literary association with India’s burgeoning poetry movement, it has been my privilege as a recognized review writer to be an intimate sharer of the dreams, ambitions and fervent aspirations of so many rising poets of an extensively changing national environment. But even more than that, I have time and again been deeply touched by the genuine sensitivity of emotion evinced by so many of Mother India’s worthy sons and daughters, and have been constantly aware of an often-shared powerful vein of spiritual urgency and intent, at the very core of such estimable writings. It was therefore with open readiness that I welcomed the initial draft of Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy’s current collection of poems. And though it had been by the merest chance that the writer had managed to locate my home-address, it would seem that we had been, indeed, destined to make one another’s literary acquaintance.
Now, after having read and deeply appreciated the fine selection of poems here contained, I can honestly say that Ashok is no longer a total stranger to me; rather he is to be considered as a fellow-poet, an eloquent dreamer, a spiritual idealist whose writings I greatly admire for the universality and heartfelt concern for humanity – regardless of creed, race or color. Hailing from the bustling great city of Hyderabad, poet / author / translator and essayist, Ashok Chakravarthy has intensified his efforts in the composition of poetry on an increasing level in the ensuing period. His being conferred with D.Litt (Doctor of Literature) by the prestigious World Academy of Arts and Culture, USA., reflect the quality he possess.
p.t.o…
In conclusion, I feel I really must pay due tribute to those fine words contained in Ashok’s excellent poem, “The Right Place” :
Let us resolve to build peaceful environs
With sincere efforts and trust-filled visions.
Let us curb the tendencies of violence,
Choosing the paths of peace and tolerance.
Let us unite, irrespective of case and creed,
Aiming to accomplish universal brotherhood.
Here, then is a poet of great integrity, a writer who truly evinces universal appeal.
- Vice President-World Congress of Poets - World Academy of Arts and Culture (Approved by UNESCO)
- President-Israel Physicians for Peace and Preservation of the Environment and Co-Vice President of IPPNW.
- Vice President-IFLAC (The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace)
F O R E W O R D
The poetry of Tholana Ashok Chakravarthy is enormously suggested. It is a permanent invitation to open the door of our heart to reach
The delicate flowers...
The rainy showers... T
he twinkling stars ...
The rotund moon...
Thoughts flocked...
Illusions swooped...
He is a real poet, a polite, reliable, honorable and colorful, just like a garden of flowers. He is telling you his world feelings, plain of imagination, approach of love, peace and harmony. Deeper intuitions
Something I should ignite
Something I ought to write
This dark night, if not
Shatter my thoughts might.I like his lovely poetry and feel very much touched by his message and soul!
I know him since many years always as an active and enthusiastic member of the movement of the World Congress of Poets under the auspices of the World Academy of Arts and Culture and in the IFLAC (The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace). His poetry is a friendly attitude to our life in peace in our Mother Earth: To some extent, let optimism prevail.
Ernesto Kahan, MD MPH
Maria Cristina Azcona
Maria Cristina Azcona is a bilingual writer and poetess whose work has been recognized worldwide and translated into many languages. She has authored four books in Argentina, and hundreds of poems and articles in international literary journals. She is also a freelance Peace Expert for UNESCO EOLSS Encyclopedia, Director in Argentina for the IFLAC, International Forum for a Literature and a Culture of Peace. Also she is Director and Founder of Bilingual MCA, Bilingual Poets and Writers for Peace, where Tholana Ashok Chakravarthy is an honored member. ==================================================================Foreword to the Book of poetry by Dr. Tholana Ashok Chakravarthyby Maria Cristina Azcona, Argentina
This book written by the virtuous hand of the talented poet Tholana Ashok Chakravarthy, brings us to mysterious spaces existing between Nature and Society, Human Soul and Fate
“The inevitable fate
Cannot be evaded
But …The intolerable hunger
Is enforced to bear
……….
But the essence of peace
Is still elusive as ever.”
This magisterial approach to Peace lyrics, finds its route towards the most exquisite expression, through the fantastic bridge of the author’s brilliancy. He is aware of the obscurity and lightness in human souls, while he constructs beautiful metaphors that polarize Nature and Society, Destiny and Self -determination, Youth hood and Maturity, Peace and War, pearls of wisdom among the ashes of the dissolute civilization. Post-modernism has swallowed cultural meanings and covered them with a cloudy gown of monstrosity, but aware of the responsibility he detents, the poet refuses to shut his eyes to poverty, hunger, violence and injustice surrounding him. He remains sensitive and profound, transporting our cognitive thoughts towards righteousness, finding the way towards Beauty through the suffering environment. His main achievement is to recreate Earth from the perspective of aesthetics, in a virtual synthesis of his intuitive conjectures.
“The hot mid-noon summer days
The day after day starving hours
Bone-sucked and almost lifeless
There lay an orphan, motionless.”
Nature in all its melancholy brings the poet a pretext to bring us this breathtaking piece
“I know the delights of a rain filled cloud
I know the charm of a striking rainbow
But the pathetic state of distant dry clouds
Spill the seeds of dejection and sorrow.”
The poet feels the sorrow while observing cruelties and madness in his Era.But, is poetry capable of changing the world? Could possibly literary genius transform this Evil into a genuine paradise of peace? In fact, poets are sometimes the philosophers of the future, the visionary builders of our new home, in the sense of a better-designed civilization. The amazing sound of the astonishment exploding into the soul of an artist who is aware of the most appalling truth, reaches our understanding in a painful way:
“Peace! Like a broken mirror forcibly hanged
Nailed as if to the clutches of gloom and doom
Revealing images of poverty and conflicts within
There reflect yet another vision of dreary future”.
His work in this book combines alliterations, redundancies and internal rhymes with elegies about human sins in nowadays world joined to a contrastable comparison among love and hate. Darkness and brightness are described even with an exaltation of goodness. Nevertheless, poetry is first and foremost, Poetry. Poets need to express the internal feelings, which produce tempests of emotions mixed with the most cherished dreams of peace. Culture grows on the shoulders of vanguards; its development is not a placid travel but an awe-inspiring conception that is born to endure millenniums. Peace Poetry dares to face the present and future of our planet without loosing the beauty of rhythm and its divine intent. Controversial and provocative, this kind of poetry is conceived as a pacific reaction to nowadays reality. What my own poetry (Postmodern Hell, Peaceful Agony and others) sustains as social. Poetry is the concept of a better world joined to the critic view of art upon ugliness of human behavior, represented by injustice, war, terrorism and inequality.
The eye of an eagle has a panoramic concept of reality. This book does not fail in the intention to bring us an accurate moral analysis of post-modernity, capable of making us see the problem and perceive the solution.
“We will be happy, let everyone still
Let's pray, wit provides us such will
Instead of standing a mute witness
Why not we seek universal oneness
Let peace be the option of all, yes
Let us resolve to strengthen peace.”
This is an ode to Beauty because it incarnates in its real meaning completed with a full content of deep values, and not an empty bottle, without scent. His literary work is what it ought to be: A vehicle between the coldest Pole of Ignorance and the Warm Pole of Awareness. This book is an artistic invocation to our critical and moral thought in its most sophisticated expression: Poetry.
“We got moved by droughts and famines
Yes, got shocked by wars and destructions
We stood mute by deaths of starvation
Being humans, let’s sow seeds of concern.
A change in attitude is the need of the hour
O human! Time is ripe to amend our manner.”
Maria Cristina Azcona, Argentina
Copyright © 2015 by Dr. Ashok T Chakravarthy
Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy, is a great Indian writer, essentially an international poet who inscribes his lyric in favor of universal peace and harmony. He is a Universal Peace Ambassador and the Vice-Chair, Global Harmony Association. For me he is part of a magnificent river. I dedicate to him the following verses which I wrote in 2011:
The river arrived...
Bringing water, sweet and in love -
Transparent drops and ice from the mountains
Mother Himalayas, mother Aconcagua…
When it passed through India and Nepal,
it is filled by meditation and compassion…
When he asked me to write a prologue for this book of his new poems, I felt much honored, and at the same time responsible. During all my life I have considered myself as a physician and a poet dedicated to tolerance, non-violence, peace, and alert about the threat of nuclear weapons as well as an emissary for the prevention of nuclear war.
I know Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy from many associations of writers and intellectuals for culture of peace and world harmony and from the World Congresses of Poets being organized by the World Academy of Arts and Culture. Although we communicate with each other in English, which is not my native tongue, we also know how to communicate in another, maybe more important language i.e., the language of the eyes and mind. In his poem entitled IMPARTING AN ASPECT he writes the following:
[…] The little human eyes
Can shower a sea of sorrow,
The little heart
Can hold an ocean of emotion;
They knows no language
Yet they can react and respond,
They have no barriers
Yet they see something beyond. […]
This book is well integrated and flows from one poem to the following and in total is a hymn to nature, freedom, happiness and life:
[…] When the doors of nature in the universe
Were wide open with a pleasant view,
We, with selfish motives and ill-intention
Have let loose a reign of mass destruction […]
[…] Blessed are the flowers which during nights blossom
Blessed are the buds which for a tomorrow dream,
Blessed are the clouds adorning the sky with delight
Blessed are we, whoever cherishes the adorable sight […]
[…] Without love ….
there is no tolerance
Without tolerance ….
there is no peace
Without peace ….
there is no prosperity
Without prosperity ….
there is no happiness
Without happiness ….
there is no meaning for life […]
In the year 2009 I was commented that our current society is at a transcendental crossroads. On one hand, the use of natural resources is very efficient, but on the other, that same use is endangering the continuity of life on our planet. On one hand, new technology and systems of intensive production permit us to obtain an elevation in the quality of life for all humanity, but on the other, new conflicts are threatening to use weapons of mass destruction, mainly atomic, and with it the potential destruction of our civilization and life on Earth. Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy is clearly walking in the way of the protection of life and his poetry is highly enrolled towards that.
The author assumed a compromise in a beautiful manner and splendid lyric
[…] Though ….
Desperately I try to explore
The prospects of meeting you;
Destined, I anticipate
Another cursed dawn
Would dawn upon my sweet love.
Tomorrow will definitely dawn
But there cannot be another day
Where memoirs can once again rejoice
The sweetest delight of delights
That is ‘your memorable relation […]
Reading this book and its fabulous poems, the readers feel also a compromise and want to walk together with the author
[…] The nectar of love is the essence of peace
It, in fact is life’s eternal existence resource
Both dwell within, yes, within all of us
To savor the life’s precious and memorable bliss […]
Thanks to Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy for this brilliant book! I strongly recommend this book. ENJOY HIS POETRY!
- University Professor - Poet – Physician, Tel Aviv University, Israel
- Honorary President of the Israeli Association Writers. Spanish Branch
- 1st Vice President & Secretary General- World Academy of Arts and Culture USA
- Honorary President Co-Founder United Nations of Letters
- Vice President Intl Forum for Literature and Culture of Peace (IFLAC)
It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right of freedom
… Mahatma Gandhi
When oppression and suppression of freedom and speech is imposed by force, the hushed-up feelings emerge out in the form of verse or couplet. Ultimately reaching the silent shores, such expressions travel and flow on the lyrical waves and free themselves from the tangle of suppression of freedom-seeking thoughts. Once softened, they emerge out in the form of beautiful and stirring couplets or verse. It is to proclaim with pride that the six-decade long struggle for Telangana statehood gave birth to several such writings by writers, singers, lyricists and balladeers in the Telangana region. And, through their writings and songs, these artists played a vital role in educating the masses and successfully advocating the dire need for fulfillment of the long-cherished cause. Dr. Ashok Chakravarthy is one such poet hailing from Hyderabad, the capital city of the newly formed (on 2nd June, 2014) Telangana State of India. Familiar for his poetic skills which brought him immense name and fame in the international arena of poetry, I too got deeply fascinated with his idiomatic ways of expressing things through poetry compositions. I feel it a great privilege to be a part and parcel of his fifth volume of poetry, titled, ‘Reflections’.
Having read poem after poem, the splendor of the expressions rhythmically unfold and drag the reader to the domain of peace and solace. Knitting poetry with the elements of universal peace, environment protection, children welfare, poverty and concern for nature; the poet weaves a spell with heart-pleasing words and phrases. Breaking the barriers of borders, religion and region, the poet imparts poetic message through his poems. The pretty lines in the poem, ‘What A Delight’ …. Amity and identity adorn the earth as ornamental peace / A place, where human love and concern should thrive; / Why can’t we exhibit our wit, patience and tolerance? / To sort out forced alienations and budding differences … espouse in the reader the feelings of solace and serenity. His profound expressions in the poem ‘Now And Then’ brings before our eyes the images of what poverty is and land our hearts in the vortex of emotion … With tattered clothes / I sight a child, / Perhaps an orphan / Who still reflect / At this mid-life / In my heart’s eye.
In a bid to spread the message of harmony and human co-existence, the poet proves his credentials as a Universal Peace Ambassador by creating the lovely poetic breeze that would prevail in a peace-filled world. This particular poem, ‘A Non-violent World’ stands a testimony of the poet’s peace yearning …. When the waves of true love and emotion surge / Perfect Peace and contentment would resurge, / By helping the starving and serving the needful / A person is bound to reach a refuge of joy-eternal. The mind-boggling rhyming and timing, exploring ever-new and beneficial messages through fragrance of love, allied with philosophical touch pleases the reader’s heart. One such remarkable poem, ‘Love Begins With Me’ … Naked, we come into the world, naked we would leave / But the one eternal thing that remains forever is, ‘Love’, / Like the buzzing bee swirling around the lotus-petals / We humans should encircle humanity, like love-pearls… speaks as to how the theme enlightens and implants in us the seed of what the ultimate of life is!
The spiritual instinct in the poet surges and emerges out to poetically express the remarkably hidden thoughts of ‘salvation through enlightenment’. Thus flow the garland of words in the poem ‘Enlightenment’ … Seek the light of Peace / To share the ultimate of passion / Seek the path of passion / To discover a source for salvation. Further, a treasure of words flow from the poet’s pen and a flock of feelings surround the poet’s swarming thoughts. Gifted by these rare features, the poet communicates his emotive feelings through the poem ‘The Pursuit’ with these pleasant lines … Though am alone, I had many a companion / With the beautiful nature around to fascinate / The poetic musings often stir around and oscillate / Scribbling one after the other solitary tune thereon. Not lagging behind any poet in expression of excellent passionate feelings, the poem ‘If Not…’ reflects the innate feelings … In memory of death-defying love, I hauntingly hurl / A feast of romantic poetry is bound to unravel / Lo! She has painted my life and its destination / If not, I cannot be a poet wielding the romantic pen.
Almost all the poems in the prestigious collection, titled, REFLECTIONS possess a philosophical melody and at times they seem to be reaching beyond normal imaginations. Every line expresses a deep feeling, wherein dwells sensitivity and exemplary qualities that make a real poet. With a firm resolve if the readers aspire to understand the poems in a true spirit, they are bound to experience a spectacular lyrical and poetical delight.
I personally wish and advise all poetry readers and literary lovers to acquaint with this rare quality of writings presented through this brilliant compilation of poems. I wish Dr. Ashok Chakravarthy, all the very best in his future endeavors.
Prof. M. Kodanda Ram
Prof. of Political Science
Osmania University
Hyderabad – 500 007
Telangana State, INDIA
Dr Honoris Causa WAAC-2009
Vice Dir Iflac Argentina and Sudamerica
Ambassador of Peace-Genevre-Suisse
Honorary President Hispan American union writer
Honoray Member Global Harmony Association
Member Ethical Ecological World Assembly
Member Presidium World Forum -
Spiritual Culture-Astana_Kazajastan
A FOREWORD to ‘REFLECTIONS’
(A collection of poems by Dr. Tholana Ashok Chakravarthy, Poet, India)
This wonderful collection of nearly one hundred poems are directed to question the current situation how humanity has been evolved from the most important point: its essence. This book is the outcome to help the devastated society lacking in values and the author intends, through poetic words illuminate the readers with such Reflections. This seems to be the propose of this writer, whose book is a warning to the whole society, a book full of universal meaning from the headline to the end, intense words accompany us…. let us act perfect for a perfect future (Nature And Me).
The poet declares about himself: to have been a poet: “the prisoner of thoughts in the heart” (Poet's heart) and from there he opens the awakening of consciousness from where one would go on uninterruptedly through the contents of poems in this great work. He also denounces and warns about situations of today, at the same time educates with advises. In the poem “Attitude”, he says: to safeguard the human instinct ... we have to change it ... we have to transform it ... we have to struggle for it, and as a plea he says: let us all understand human values .. let us all stand together with a sole aim… and insists…if everyone strives..if everyone.
In the XXI century, we should have been advanced in spiritual goodwill with many solid bases in different parts of the planet, but it happens the opposite, so this author as a responsible contemporary intellectual in his worthy job; struggles for unity and brotherhood, solidarity and awakening of consciousness. This is a fact. There is something precious to recollect and recover which is allowing us to move forward towards universal progress with dignified human values. This author is a fountain of good inspiration to others, whether near or far from every faith. His words come from a pure poetic spirit nurturing co-existence and this is the moment for the people to live in peace with neighbors, and these precious feelings are meant for everyone’s happiness.
We all have to stop, - to see, feel, listen each poem; listen with the heart as to what is happening all around and how we can overcome the adversaries. As the fact of being alive here and now, the presentation of poems provide an unparalleled delight, achieving a sense of introspection amongst the readers.
It is a great honor for me to write words about the work of an author like Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy, whom I fully admire, who lives far off from my country (Argentina), where different language, traditions and customs exist. But I agree with the concept of universal peace with universal action - building bridges of understanding with spiritual values without differences of any kind. The fight through poetry is demonstrated by him at the time he takes a pen and writes word after word from the true human soul - with love for humanity. In this way, the poet chose to make it possible to convey mankind the required patience and thought to survive inside a global technological growth with PEACE.
Reading Chakravarthy’s poems hailing from the land of Spiritual India and of Mahatma Gandhi, unfold before me a complete bright view of an ‘Indian’s Universe’ over this vast southern deserted place of wind (Argentina) and I realize that the goodness of this author illuminates every horizon. He says: let’s show our unity, overcome egoism, ideals of peace... in addition, love, he is sensitive to the nature and mother earth …does not neglect... with wounds all over / and the lurking shadows of devastation / look at us, mournful, pitiful and disgraceful, with a deep feeling awake, can we continue .. at least now, oh humans!
As a reputed and universal admirable poet and writer, Dr. Ashok Chakravarthy is responsible for the great awareness of this time, which is resonating like an eternal song here in Occident and there in Orient. He says: memory is my companion, it speaks any language. Here, the poetic soul thrives within him without any blocks of walls and doors, but with words surging alive between the alternate reality of today, - a fresh look lost in a world that is emerging in small human stature with an invisible preaching to the eyes and mind. This is the important fact that prevails and this book (REFLECTIONS) is a good tool for the concretization for the next future that awaits us all.
Ms. Susana Roberts
poet-writer-Argentina
FOREWORD TO DR. T. ASHOK CHAKRAVARTHY’S
FIFTH COLLECTION OF POEMS TITLED, REFLECTIONS
"This collection of poems ‘REFLECTIONS’ focuses on four main themes: peace, children, love and harmony. These poems inspire the reader. One feels that they are written by a poet who is deeply devoted to them. In fact, Dr. Tholana Chakravarthy is the Vice President of Global Harmony Association (GHA), and has published many brilliant poems about peace, harmony, and children on the GHA website “Peace from Harmony” (www.peacefromharmony.org) and in many books of GHA: Global Civilization (2009), The ABC of Harmony (2012), Global Peace Science from Harmony, etc.
Deep social responsibility of the poet-author is expressed in his words that we are helpless in the global horror of terror, because “we fail to co-exist in harmony” (poem THE DISORDER). He is confident that the way out of this horror lies only on a harmonious path (poem HARMONIOUS PATH). Unfortunately, this key idea does not find development in collection. But despite this, it wakes up the good feelings, draws the reader towards peace, love and harmony, reinforcing people, especially the youth, with faith and enthusiasm in them. It is very important for the spiritual progress of humanity. Therefore, I advise all readers, especially the young, closely acquainted with this collection of original poetry."
- Dr. Leo Semashko, President,
Global Harmony Association, - Russia
Retd. Prof / Freelance Journalist - KARNATAKA STATE, India
“REFLECTIONS”, is the second anthology out of the five collections I have read, enjoyed and contemplated by me, which is composed by a young friend of mine who is a quadragenarian called Dr. Tholana Ashok Chakravarthy, Litt.D, serving as a Manager of well-known agricultural bank, named “The Telangana State Co-operative Apex Bank Ltd.” (TSCAB) having its Head Quarters in the Charminar-famed city of Hyderabad.
This anthology is a compilation of one short of hundred poems (Ninety Nine) which are all perfect lyrical poems. In this collection of poems the poet’s lyricism, imagination, mode of expression and emotion, have found a relief in a joyous outburst of spontaneous expression.
It is an admitted fact that the study of such poems will certainly help the reader to enjoy the beauty of the expressions of those thoughts. Till today I got an opportunity of reading nearly 200 such elegant poems composed by the peace loving poet Dr. Tholana. I confess cogently that every poem of him has added a millimeter to my mental horizon.
I am of the firm opinion that Dr. Ashoka is a man gifted with great poetic talent and powers. He composes his poems as ebulliently as a great poet. As a poet he is enormously popular not only in India but also abroad. The chief quality of this great poet is his sincerity both in his life and in his poetry. In short simplicity is the core of his lifestyle. Simplicity is also the characteristic feature of a good poetry. I personally like his robust simplicity, veracity and directness of concept. No doubt he is a poet of first water.
Being a lyrist the poet has used the English language with mastery and music. There is the wealth and variety of vocabulary and poetic expression in his poetry. As there is a magic of enchantment in his songs, his lyrics have a sweetness and poignancy all their own. So it appears to the reader that they sing themselves into the universal heart. He is able to do by means of words what the musicians does by the meter and the painter does by means of colours. The following lines of the poet upheld the remarks made above –
In his poems sound and sense are inseparable :
1. To break the trust,
To bridge the trust,
Which one is easier,
Unhesitantly the first – (Break-Even Point)
There is a slight variety in the rhythm of his poetry:
2. Why can’t we be apart in restoring “Peace”
To make our planet Earth, “A SANCTUARY OF PEACE” - (A Sanctuary of Peace)
He uses words for the sake of their sound effects :
3. At midnight under the moon light
I stand beneath with a drowsy delight – (When Shall We Awaken)
The poet is gifted with remarkable power of speech. While reading his poems one will notice the importance given by him for communication in his poems. He writes not for his own pleasure but primarily to communicate his own thoughts and emotions to his readers. That’s why his poems are full of messages:-
In this stanza the clarion call of the poet is sounded to awaken the people from a state of stupor:
1. The Mother Earth with wounds all over ,
And the lurking shadows of devastation,
Looks at us, mournful, painful and disgraceful,
Can we Awake now at least, O Humans ! - (Awake Now At Least)
Plain familiar words in their natural order form the bed-rock of his style:
2. Like buzzing bee swirling around the lotus-petals
We humans should encircle humanity, like love pearls. – (Love begins with me)
The philosophy of this couplet is that forgetfulness of our duty results from self indulgence :
3. Let us be perfect for a future perfect,
In a perfect way for a perfect world- (Nature And We)
The poet is a hero by virtue of the fact that he reveals truth to us. He has a direct insight into reality. That’s why; he is able to describe reality so vividly to us. The below mentioned lines go to prove this statement.
This couplet reveals complete understanding of human psychology:
1. Though I desperately try to break this silence ,
I find no one near to grab the fleeing chance – (Lo! What Can I Do)
There is the flow of rhythm and brevity of expression:
2. Unless the Sun sets there won’t exist an iota of life ,
Yes, let us think positive and brave the paths of grief – (Think Positive)
His poetic diction is mostly simple and clear:
3. Lo! Where are we heading to haunts me often ,
Encircled by ecological break and crying orphans. - (The Disorder)
Dr. Chakravarthy is a poet of nature. He loves nature and worships nature .Like Wordsworth he loves nature as he finds it. He describes nature with admirable simplicity .There are several graphic descriptions of nature in this anthology. He laments for the exploitation of this good Earth. He criticizes this selfish tendency of man in his poems through soft words and in a milder way. To quote his own lines :
He describes vividly the nature of the exploitation of man in this stanza:
1. When the doors of nature in the universe ,
Were wide open with a pleasant view,
We with selfish motives and ill intention,
Have let loose a reign of mass destruction – (Nature And We)
No aspect of the activities of nature remains hidden from his searching eye:
2. The moon and stars are duty bound to enthrall ,
Nature performs its task to help human survival – (Think Positive)
Thus nature seemed to him also divine, unspeakable deep as high as heaven.
The poet describes the pathetic conditions of the poor very minutely but it is with a more moving sympathy, a deeper pathos and brilliance of phrase. This pitiable plight of the poor has been depicted by the poet in these lines –
He paints the pitiable condition of the poor exactly as it is :
1. The hour after hour pounce ;
Of the dreadful hunger
Spreading its fatal tentacles,
Deep in to poverty-stricken slums - (How Can You)
There is in him an eye to see and soul to do:
2. Hunted by death trampled by hunger
Poverty knocks the tolerance of the poor,
Where do the strings of Mercy dwell? - (Mercy)
The poet is a propagator of world peace. He gives much importance and priority for the maintenance of world peace in his poems. The following lines of the poet deserve to be quoted here :
1. On the ripples of freedom , float the thoughts of peace,
Devoted! Let us honour and strengthen the ideals of peace - (The Ideals Of Peace)
2. Peace has become a distant mirage ,
Unmasking violence with a fit of rage – (The Moments)
3. Lo! The so called protectors of peace ,
Why not the wars could be averted - (A Sanctuary of Peace)
In almost all the poems of this Anthology the poet has expressed his unique emotional experience which is really a source of pleasure for the reader. To put the point in clear terms he sublimates emotions and offers aesthetic pleasures to the readers. So his poems have rather the value of a piece of creative literature than of mere emotions. He possesses a direct insight into reality .That’s why he is able to describe reality so vividly to us .
In fine “REFLECTIONS”, is a collection of short poems which set the readers imagination ablaze with lyrical fragrance. His poems are all realistic which serve as the yardstick to measure poetic talent. Moreover these short poems of him definitely reveal that he has a redefined and charming soul, a noble and amicable nature. Those who read his poems with devotion will certainly praise the qualities of his head and heart. What I observed and found in his poems is that realism does not lie in the themes of his poems whereas it has been brought out through his magic of writing. He has expressed in his poems a noble Philosophy and it is the study of that philosophy that one should read this collection of poems, with a seeing eye and an understanding eye.
I personally feel proud that I got an opportunity to express my sincere opinions about the poetry of Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy in the form of a FORWARD to his collections of poems entitled, “REFLECTIONS”.
I think that I am really BLESSED !
- Dr. K. G. Kulkarni
A Poetic Flow of Thoughts
Worldwide Circulation through Authorspress Global Network
First Published in 2019
A Poetic Flow of Thoughts
ISBN 978-93-88008-*–
Copyright © 2019 T. Ashok Chakravarthy
Dr. María Eugenia Soberanis
It is a honor for me to write about our, since many years ago, dear friend Ashok Chakravarthy. A distinguished poet, many times laureated, with so many prizes won during his traveling through the paths of poetry. He was also being awarded with the highest honor by the World Academy of Arts and Culture / World Congress of Poets (UNESCO). Mr. Chakravarthy is a proper gentleman, he’s also a quiet and observer person, always heeled and attentive.
For this new book, Outlet: A Poetic Flow of Thoughts he has chosen the most proper title for it, because it is just as he says. He has collected in this book all the themes which he cares most and that are those who worry the humanity. In his case, he can rest of trying to find a way for the world’s problems and more over the lack of spiritual growth of those who have the real power in the world, which is the real cause of so many indescribable acts.
We can say Mr. Chakravarthy’s thoughts are basically nature, war, peace, poets, materialism and selfishness. Of course as a poet cannot let stand by love, in both cases, when one is living it in fullness as when it seems to leave us in a dark hole, but he emphasizes it as a collective feeling as he says: “The Potion of Love is an answer to every solution”
He often goes to travel to his past, through his memories in different stages of his life, what he misses most is his precious childhood with his cherished mother to whom he dedicates some beautiful poems in this book, and he even starts it with one of them. How not to be moved when he confesses he is “the fountain of his delight”, the one who unfolds “the visión of truth”. Or you may take this: “Yes, whenever I sense drifting in the dark / Mother You appear like an angelic spark / Yes, you always remain in the iris of my eyes/, forever you glow in my inner heart skies.”
His memories are a very common theme in our dear poet, the different stages of life have a very important meaning to him as we can see when he writes: “The fleeting years traverse the life’s path / Unfolding a track of life meaning and myth” in his poem FleetingYears.
“Childhood to youth and middle age to old-age / We guess, we treaded new paths at every stage; / But, when self-realization really dawns in heart / We realize; real path of life is not walked as yet.” This is another example of his regressions. I even dare to say that he reviews his different life’s periods to find and understand his present, as he is a pensative man.
About nature: “My heart aches with a pain of new sort; / I try to visualize lives, wrapped in dark / Whose survival depends on hope’s spark.” These lines tell us how deep his concern is about nature, as well as for the other important world problems, and we inevitably fill his sorrow and make us reflect about it. This is his way to raise awareness about nature: “Everyday, the earth is getting more sodden / Not with rain, but with tears of humans”
Mr. Chakravarthy calls for a change of human mind with desperation in his poem “You and I” written for U.N. in International Mother Earth’s Day. In his poem “Nature” he wonders: “Is this what the Mother Earth deserves?”
Poet Chakravarthy comes to compare mother’s love with mother earth: “Evaluate the love of ‘mother earth’ / With that of a mother’s care and faith, / By all means both are precious and noble / Apart, both are selfless and sacrificial.”
About peace: “United, we feel the thunder of harmony / To dispel the fears of hunger and agony; / United, we realize the wonders of peace”
Our poet has his opinion about this work, about which he ponders: “A frill without ink has no significance / A pen without ink has no importance, /A single glance changes the mindset /‘cause it can seduce any human plight.
We may say that Mr. Chakravarthy seems desperate at moments in his seeking for a solution without a clear result, he becomes anguished and he can’t, or maybe he doesn’t want to hide his great concern, we can notice this in several poems such as: “Let Human Spirit Prevail” in which he claims: hear!, where is peace?, where is love?, Humans!, How shame!
No more clear his idea of materialism in this new book, that in the poem: “Where there’s greed there’s grief”, about money.
After Reading the worries of our poet, he seems to reconcile with hope and faith and he waits for a spiritual awakening in, for example: “Without Which” or “Time and Life”: these releases the readers to think that not all is pain and suffering and the author believes it.
There are so many things to say about this book, where the author falls in the temptation to rhyme sometimes in some of his texts, which are direct, reflexives, not abusing of metaphors. But let there be a dense joy, an intimate poetry as well as the social and nature’s concerns of a man of our times who doesn’t settle with what is going on in our world and appeals to his good skills to try to awake men’s consciousness.
Dr. María Eugenia Soberanis, MEXICO
* General Secretary WAAC/WCP, Honorary President of UHEM, Vice President SIPEA, Mexico City, Mexico
Foreword TO “Outlet”
a bard of high imagination and truth
Kairat Duissenov Parman
I have my deep associations with Mr. Ashok Chakravarthy Tholana – for the past several years; I found his poetry the blend of high imagination and truth. The first poem that I read was about Mother which made me think deeply about my own mother, about women, and about all mothers in the world. I remembered the earliest childhood when I first saw my own mother; I remembered her beautiful eyes, full of love and affection. I remembered my love for my mother and infinite delight and her warm, kind words that she used to say for me. I remember how her smart acts made me comfortable by taking care of me. It was the magic of his poetic diction that led me to past and revived the age of deep associations in my mind and I relished that period in dotage again, perhaps it is the function and magic of poetry. While going through his poem I felt as if he represents my sentiments and thoughts, I had to confess that his writes are about Truth. He pen inscribes true love for the whole humanity and all human relations in the world.
He has a new approach to express the voice of his conscience, very effectively; it is on account of his style his thoughts penetrate direct into the heart of a reader. His poetry indeed is a fountain of delight. A Kazakh poet Shakarim Kudaiberdiuly writes that every person should think at least once about his life, “Where I come from, how I should act so that it is useful for me and what will happen to me when I leave this world.” the poems of my colleague Mr. Ashok Chakravarthy Tholana just confirm that idea. Despite, the differences of faith and race as well as folk of customs, always think of the Creator. We thought of the Creator even when our society was not ruled by the divine laws. As a poet, I feel that we all poets and writers think of Him very often and even in each of our breath, especially, when we come to God's trial in life. Conscious awareness of God’s presence in poetry of Ashok is more prevalent that makes his work a guiding source for the fellow beings.
The consequence of our emotional attitude often entangle us into conflicts but Ashok poetry resolves the confusion by teaching that life itself is not a mere destination, it is rather a pause in the journey to the destination. Outwardly, we may not, but inwardly we possess some invisible power and between these indistinguishable dualities, there exists God, with inconceivable realities. He praises God’s power, His Majesty, in the best possible way and makes a clear analysis of His actions. He is a poet, diverse in his new work, his style does not let his reader sit still and become bored and suspense prevails in his lines from beginning to the end. In his every poetic line his breath is felt as if the poet himself breathes, his work is instilled with love and spiritual power. He has a very vital bond at the same time with creature and creator. ‘And with true ideals of compassion, Bind yourself with love and passion, To usher an eternal Global Harmony… ’ he has given to humanity, his many years of creativity; it has turned his commitment into a treasure for the people and world of literature. I think that Ashok Chakravarti Tholana has rendered his role and his devotion to poetry made him a perennial figure in the world of literature and many will be inspired by him in the world of future.
Kairat Duissenov Parman, KAZAKHSTAN.
* Poet, Composer, Journalist, Winner of the International Literary Prize IWA Bogdani (Belgium), Winner of International Literary Prize ‘Master of Poetry’ of the IPU ‘League of Lira’, ‘Founder of World Nations Writers Union, Kazakhstan.
Preface
Muhamad Shanazar
Poetry since beginning has been associated with divinity and now it is an established fact that thoughts come from the greater divine mind and they nestle in a sensitive unsullied mind and after having been nurtured they rush to the heart, get tinges of emotions, the poet clad them with costumes of words and they come out gloriously in a powerful flow, they pertain more to heart, therefore, they strike on the heart of a reader. The words in fact merely are not the dead stuff, they carry along images which a poet crafts with similes and metaphors, they get shapes, forms, colours and tastes and these all ingredients of poetry collectively affect both, the reader’s mind and heart.
My heart is stupendously laden with gratitude for the modern technology that has brought us close though we live on the opposite poles of the world. My first virtual meeting with Dr. T. Ashok Chakravarthy happened almost fifteen years ago, during the communication, being lucky enough I had an opportunity to go through his poetic work and I could not help considering him my guide and mentor in my own remaining poetic journey. His poetry as I feel is charged with potent emotions and thoughts that is why it cuts its own route to reach the heart of a reader and consequently molds, shapes and reshapes as the poet wishes. Poetry of T. Ashok Chakravarthy has all traits, features and liniments of greatness that make any work perennial. In his poem ‘Survival and Revival’ he vividly refers to the entities of Man and God, he rightly says that Man is not the same as He appears, human existence is very much complicated, it is a combination of outer-self and inner-self, they are in fact two entities which at the same time relate to the world terrestrial and extra-terrestrial and presence of God is somewhere in between, such a thought as human existence and existence of God, purely seats on spiritual experience, therefore, Ashok Chakravarthy in these lines himself reveals his hidden entity that is Mystic Ashok Chakravarthy:
Outwardly, we are not what we really are
But inwardly we possess some invisible power;
Betwixt these indistinguishable dualities,
There exists God, with inconceivable realities.
No doubt by nature and temperament T. Ashok Chakravarthy bears noble righteous soul that always yearns for peace, his heart gurgles love indiscriminately for all human beings, I regard him a great pacifist and advocate of global harmony, no doubt he has already got himself established as a towering campaigner of peace in the contemporary world that is why he pays homage to those who render their lives for peace:
Salutations to those
Who relentlessly work for peace
Risking their life for ‘universal peace ’.
………………………………………………
Salutations to those
Who strive for environment protection
For the sake of ‘future generations’.
A luxurious and gorgeous life
Cannot impart a righteous idea,
A lavish and ego-bloated life
Cannot implant a humane spirit;
But, a poet by heart is emotive
………………………………………….
By outlook, a poet is very simple
By living, tries to set a live example
By leading a life, too very simple
But by writings, proves a real mettle
.
Man in his life runs after illusions, T. Ashok Chakravarthy in his poetry is very conscious about the transitory phases of life, each phase has its own glory but when life moves ahead, the previous phase merges into memory, the deemed reality changes into shadow but the mid-age illuminates the mind and brings a man out of hallucinations and reality whether bitter or palatable begins to enlighten itself:
Mid-age, the age of illumination
Slowly unfolds the veil of illusions,
The volume of mirror reflections
Reel before eyes in a fit of emotion..
Yes, poetry can uphold the human ideals
Can project the ills of social fragmentation
Can oust the recurring segments of violence
Can repulse the blurred borders of hatred
Can enlighten the plight of the downtrodden
Can spread the threat of ecological erosion
Can explore the violation of children’s rights
Can expose the dangers of growing illiteracy
Can strengthen the pillars of peace process
Can extend the arms of love and concern
Can nurse the wounds of distress and distrust
Can pave a way to repose faith on co-humans
Can dispel darkness from the sucked dark lives
Like every sensitive poet, T. Ashok Chakravarthy sometimes becomes nostalgic and takes refuge in his past memories by recalling beauties of nature which are inseparable ties of his childhood, but even then he is not an escapist:
I recollect nectarine youthful days, awesome
How joyfully the pairs of birds flew back home,
The fading flowers in the garden of my heart
Feel, new lease of life surge in my heart’s heart;
I forgot, it was my mid-age anguish thought.
Much can be said about T. Ashok Chakravarthy’s poetry, it is the an onus of the critics to delve and explore more and more the hidden recess of his great work, I since long have devised my critical opinion that his poetry bears much more literary significance than often commonly deemed, his style is aphoristic, in a few words or lines he has an habit of expressing cumbersome themes but very subtly, his poetic thoughts from beginning to the end flows like a soundless smooth stream. I recommend that his poetry must be included in the reading curriculum at least at degree and master levels; I wish for him more success.
Muhamad Shanazar, PAKISTAN
* Poet in Residence, The International Best Translator Prize 2012, Poet of the World, Cross for Peace, Cross for Literature, First Four Stars Ambassador, Poet of Universal Inspiration, World Icon of Peace, Ambassador of Justice & Peace, World Laureate in Literature 2017, Pride of Globe 2017, Poetic Galaxy Award, Extra-Ordinary Ambassador for Gratis Culture, Honorary Doctorate in Humanitarian Education, Ambassador De Literature, one of the Top Six Writers of the World, World Icon of Literature, Lit. Ambassador of Humanity, Noble Star of Literature 2018, World’s Most Motivational Writer Award.
To get to know another culture is a hard task. A task which demands to involve the hearth and hands to play with differences and similarities. To gaze into the poetic unfold is a very delicate and complex enterprise. The poet from India, Ashok Chakravarthy Tholana’s verses please the universal soul and I strongly believe and aspire, we share our profound conviction in the equality of all human beings and in our faith that all false walls which divide us should be abolished.
The true poet is a being who abandons all adornments to leave in paper a soul which is sincere and truthful. That is Ashok in his dealing with the themes of love and peace, destruction and preservation of the planet and solitude with a permanent plea to his readers to find the true path which can define a possible and more beautiful future.
In his poems Ashok questions the passing of time. A time in where occasionally he retuns to his childhood and youth, as a cry for lost times and loves which once were. Beautiful contradictions between the past and the present which evidence a poet who can use words to express a hearth beating with its own sounds.
The future emerges out of his concerns with the big themes of the planet’s preservation, war and destruction, social integration, child protection and the preservation of mother earth, issues at the center of his poetic concerns, recognized by the literary establishment.
The poet tells us:
“Entangled in the traps of the materialistic world /
... life is not a mere destiny for happiness”
and those verses aptly paint their universe, the commitment that has assumed before itself and its congeners.
“Yes, poetry can defend human ideals /
... reject the blurred borders of hatred”,
Ashok uses poety as a sword to attack the reality which hurts him, arming himself with words, his shield for repudiating all avarice and violence. Returning to the image of isolation. Ashok feels isolated from the world, and like in a circle returns to the past, where his childhood flowers in his mother’s hands, in beautiful images which flow…
“Without any respite
Isolation hunts me
as if I was trying...”
or, in another poem:
“Alone, I feel totally eclipsed in isolation,
Pain penetrates deeply into the layers of heart
Without realizing it, thoughts are hidden in the clouds of fear”
And so his poetry becomes, oscillating between the uneasiness, the should be, the despair and the reinforcement of his spirit and his faith, to continue planting the word before a world that seeks destruction.
It remains to say that every finished poem represents one more step that every reader can give, moving towards a spiritual totality, this contribution of the poet is his most important achievement. That is the reason why they are invited to this universe of Ashok, in its infinite alternation, which points its heart towards a horizon of hope where it expects a better world than the conflicting moment that we have built. .. that hope that we share, in the conviction that, when the written word is read, a seed of light is sown in the future that will flourish in a unit of positive human vibration. So I leave you with some verses as expressive as revelers:
“The bird of thoughts, take a look,
perhaps bewildered by my innocence.”
Blanca Salcedo
ARGENTINA
After the success of earlier book, the ‘Chariot Of Musings ‘ was more successful with poet-lovers commending around the world. A soul-stirring collection of poems…
PROF. V. PERUMAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
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Executive Director
Foundation Activities : Research, Library and Information Services, Seminars, Free School Uniform & Text Books, Award to the Rank & First Class Students / Graduates / Post Graduates, Counseling
FOREWORD
I studies with great attention and deep delight the wonderful poem book.
The collection of poems book is educationally useful, culturally relevant, academically sound, socially acceptable, psychologically meaningful, pedagogically helpful, philosophically admirable, historically excellent, and scientifically beautiful and no doubt, it is impressive, interesting, informative, inspiring, appealing and above all thought provoking.
Poet T. Ashok Chakravarthy’s collection is one that should be read in a calm frame of mind. Each thought is to be savored, each tortured emotion is to be turned over and over in the reader’s mind, in order to get the full flower of this offering.
This interesting collection of poems by Scholar, Mr. Ashok Chakravarthy focuses attention on the present appalling state of affairs in the country.
I compliment the poet for his erudition and for his fine collection of poems, which I have enjoyed reading. I am sure, other readers will find this collection equally enjoyable.
DR. P. GANESH
M.A., FUWAI, Ph.D., S.Sc
Professor of Sociology
KGF Law College
Ramnik Mehta
Prof. and Head (Retd)
Department of English,
N.A Arts Collge
S.P University
VALLABH VIDYANAGAR
Gujarat, INDIA
FOREWORD
This serves to express my joy and a sense of honor to write the Foreword for my fellow poet T. Ashok Chakravarthy. I quote, “Two may talk together under the same roof for many years, yet never really meet; and two others at first speech are old friends”. How true is the second part of the quote. Ashok and I met at Bombay Airport on our way to IASI, Tomania, to attend World Congress of Poets convention and have been buddies since then.
T. Ashok Chakravarthy writes but feel imprisoned in his own fort waiting for another theme to sneak and sow a seed. He is determined to write even though thoughts fail to confince him. But he struggles unceasingly on a steep un-imaginative domain. His mind is flooded with “too many thoughts / so many themes / some delightful / some mournful”. His thoughts do make merry rounds.
T. Ashok Chakravarthy seems to be speaking of himself. Here he is entrapped in the reminiscences of his childhood; there he is ready to opt to see The Other Part of life embedded in gloom; now he is happy, looking at nature, ‘the dawn peeps and his heart creeps”, then his heart goes to the downtrodden, the orphans, the illiterates, the children abused and neglected; and yet
He has to write, write and highlight
The pitiable, emotive and hunger’s plight
With a hope, some hearts in can soften.
To him, life is a cluster of knots / a future of unexplored destiny. Ups and Downs pester him and he seeks another part of Inner Life
The worn out curtain
in my room around
Greet me in silence.
Perhaps, they know
I too am a companion
Who match their stature.
This is how I know T. Ashok. The poems published in vast number of magazines speak louder than what I may write. A critic is a legless man who teaches running and I don’t want to be legless. To quote Dr. Johnson: “A fly, Sir, may I sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect and the other is a horse still”. So, neither do I wish to be an insect.
I wish, Ashok shall, as he promises us in one of his Poem “never look back / keep on marching / opt for a positive thinking / to achieve something”.
Ramnik Mehta
WE HAVE ONE LIFE TO LIVE – THIS I
Made a maiden entry into poetry through ‘Charismata Of Poesie’. Selected poems on various subjects, with the much needed boost ….
We have the pleasure of reading the poetry of T. Ashok Chakravarthy (TAC) for the last 4 years. His poems have given us joy of studying various moods and encounters of the author’s life. He is a poet par excellence!
One cannot be a poet f he or she is not either in happiness or in pain. TAC is more a poet of pain than happiness. ‘A Spell of Despair’, ‘An Accursed’, ‘Bread-winner’s Woe’, ‘Crumbled Dreams’, ‘Desolate Night’, ‘Silent Agony’, ‘Doomed Love’, ‘Healing Wounds’, ‘The Lonely Time’ and many others are poem of pain. Words like ‘agony’, ‘despair’, ‘dejection’, ‘frustration’, ‘grief’, ‘gloom’, ‘mourning’, ‘pain’, ‘solitude’, ‘sorrow’ and ‘suffering’ clearly indicate the theme of his poems. At night his “Thoughts fluctuate from one end to the other / In the woven webs of grief and despondency”. He retrospects on ‘the very roots of the woe-filled past’. He feels his life is ‘injured’ and the struggles ‘in turbulent moods’. He writes, ‘In the stormy desert of pain / Feared, I think, I lost my path’. His ‘heart writhes with pain’ and he is ‘on the volcano of dejection’.
The poet has also deep concern for the suffering humanity. He is the one to whom the world (A world of ‘contamination’, ‘devastation’, ‘penury’ and ‘starvation’) is his own; and so he is suffering.
The poet knows that the castle of joy is in pain and pain is the wit of joy. Every man lives suffering but his life becomes an ocean of joy who endures pain happily and stoically.
Written in lucid language, the book is a collection of ‘the sweetest songs’ that speak of ‘saddest thoughts’.
We wish this book will find appreciation of all lovers of poetry worldwide.
Shri Mandal Bijoy Beg, Director,
The Home of Letters,
Bhubaneswar, Orissa, INDIA
