Meena Kumari Betrayed Her Pain And Smouldering Pathos Through Her Poetry

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 31 March 2023 "Har Naye Zakhm Par Ab Rooh Bilak Uthti Hai / Honth Agar Hans Bhi Padein, Aankh Chhalak Uthti Hai." (Every new wound breaks down the soul / Even when there's a streak of smile on the lips, eyes well up with tears) "Aaghaaz Toh Hota Hai Anjaam Nahin Hota /Jab Meri Kahani Mein Woh Naam Nahin Hota" (Though it begins, it never ends / When that name doesn't figure in my story) Meena Kumari ----- The pain and pathos expressed in the aforementioned couplets will suggest that some seasoned poet penned them. Meena Kumari 'Naaz' wrote them. Reams have been written on the acting prowess of the 'Tragedy Queen' but still not much has been written on India's Emily Dickinson or Sylvia Plath. Let me descant upon this facet of Mahjabeen's persona as everyone knows her as a very profound actress. Neglected and tormented by the Poet laureate husband Sir Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath expressed her angst through her poetry. Likewise, extremely sensitive and silent Meena Kumari betrayed her pain and smouldering pathos through her poetry. Though Kamal Amrohi thought that she had no sense of poetry and Khwaja Ahmad Abbas also didn't give much importance to her as a poet despite admiring her acting, there were takers like Sampooran Singh Kalra ' Gulzar ' who appreciated her as a poetess of sensibilities (Shayara-E-Jazbaat): Jab Bhi Utheen Samandar-E-Dil Mein Jazbaat Ki Laharein/ Takra Ke Saahil Se Mismaar Ho Gayeen (Whenever the waves of feelings surfaced on the sea of heart/ They got demolished after hitting the sea-shore). A kind of unfulfillment and loss marked her poetry- Dil Tod Diya Us Ne Ye Kah Ke Nigaahon Se/ Patthar Se Jo Takraye Woh Jaam Nahin Hota. French poet Charles Baudelaire used to say that poetry that subtly reveals a poet's entombed desires can be called good poetry despite being subjective in nature. Meena Kumari's deep-buried subjective poetry, exhumed by yet another poet like Gulzar, has the elements of quality poetry (Meyaari Shayari). Just ponder over this couplet: Kahin Koi Taara, Kahin Koi Jugnu/ Jo Meri Raat Thi Woh Aap Ka Savera Hai (Somewhere some star, somewhere a glow-worm/ What was my night, was your morning). Meena Kumari had no pretensions to being a poet. She believed in William Wordsworth's definition of poetry that it was a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. "Utar Aaya Khud-Ba-Khud Kaaghaz Pe/ Talatum-E-Sog Jo Utha Dil Mein" (That descended on a sheet of paper/ When the tempest of pain pierced through the heart). The wistfulness is obvious in her poetry: An-Kahi, An-Suni Si Kuchh Baatein/ Soone Din Aur Ye Sunsaan Raatein ( Some unspoken and unheard words/ Forlorn days and destitute nights). Her poetry was not always immersed in self-pity, she had pragmatism as well: Ye Na Socho Kal Kya Ho/ Kaun Kahe Iss Pal Kya Ho. She gave away her notebooks and desultory poems and Nazms to Gulzar, who compiled and got them published into a Deewan (collection). Parveen Shakir's couplet articulates Meena Kumari's life and poetry: Ik Dard Ka Fasana Hai Meri Sukhanvari/ Likhti Hoon Aur Ro Deti Hoon (My poetry is a saga of pain/ I write and break down). Yes, Meena Kumari's entire oeuvre was a saga of sorrow. By the way, Meena Kumari loved white. She called it, ' Mera Pasandeeda Rang ' (My favourite colour). No wonder ' Gulzar ' always wears white! Tere Rang Mein Rang Gaya/ Tu Jahan Gaya, Tere Sang Gaya. ---- Meena Kumari's Death Anniversary falls on March 31 URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/meena-pain-smouldering-pathos-poetry/d/129452 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism