2. Keki. N. Daruwalla as a poet
his satirical tone of poetic presentation sets him
apart.
His anger and contempt are directed against the
dull, passive Indian life-style, the general
incompetence, romantic illusions and so on.
Yet he would claim himself to be a poet of the
landscape/nature.
Keki. N. Daruwalla is a significant poet who made
his mark on the Indian Poetic scene in the 1970’s.
3. Daruwalla’s anger against corruption reveals a strong
ethical and moral consciousness which often finds
expression in satirical outbursts.
His bitter ways of saying things are rather unusual in
Indian poetry.
Another important feature of his poetry is that even as
he works on Desire, memory and the immediacy of
experiences, he creates moods of depression.
Because he feels that India is a land of darkness and
despair with its passivity, fatalism and meaningless
rituals.
Yet he attempts to portray this real India by striking a
balance between the outer reality and his inner
consciousness of it.
4. Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla was born in Lahore in January
1937.
After taking his Master degree in English Literature from
Panjab University he oined the Indian Police Service.
His first book of poems Under Orion was published in 1970
and his second collection of poems Apparition in April in 1971.
His thrid book Crossing of Rivers was published in 1976.
His Winter Poems came out in 1980.
His poems figure in a number of anthologies, and he has
himself edited an anthology of modern Indian Poetry under
the title Two Decades of Indian Poetry in English – (1960-
1980).
He won the Sahitrya Academi Award in 1984.
5. Keki. N. Daruwalla known for his bitter satire tone
and as one who writes from his experience of
violence.
He shows a preoccupation with some of the darker
sides of existence particularly with the themes of
death and destruction.
Daruwalla is one who believes, like many other poets
writing in recent years, that poetry should derive its
inner strength from a social awareness and a sense of
commitment to changes that society is in need of, and
also the environment.
6. As a painter of the rural landscape
Daruwalla is remarkable.
His focus is mainly on the north of India
with its beautiful plains and pastures, its
attractive hills and frightening rivers.
Through this act of the will to focus very
often of rustic Indian he demonstrates
how he is different from many other poets
of India writing in English in our times.
7. The themes of his poetry are love, death, domination,
cynicism, plight of human society and violence.
He writes with intensity and vigour involved in poetic
creation.
Since he had been in police service, violence is
unavoidable in his poetry.
His important volumes of verse include “Under
Orian”, (1970) “Apparition in April” (1971) and
“Crossing Rivers” (1976).
8. As the poet is from a Parsi family.
He has his distinct language, lifestyle and
culture.
Parsi community has its own separate type of
cremation.
9. Tower of Silence-
A Dakhma, also known as the Tower of Silence, is a circular, raised structure built by
Zoroastrians for excarnation – that is, for dead bodies to be exposed to carrion birds, usually
vultures.
10. According to Zoroastrian belief, the four elements
– fire, water, earth, and air, are sacred, and ought
not to be polluted by the disposal of the dead.
Cremation, for example, is believed to cause
pollution to fire, air, and at times river water as
well, while burial (without adequate lining of the
grave) causes pollution to the earth and ground
water.
14. Meaning of Hymn
NOUN-
a religious song or poem of praise to God or
a god.
"a Hellenistic hymn to Apollo"
synonyms:
religious song · anthem · song of praise
15. The present poem highlights the different ideologies
regarding final rituals.
It shows two different ideologies –
One is of Hindu ideology and
second is Parsi ideology regarding final rituals.
The poet looks at the Hindu style of cremation through
the eyes of a Parsi.
16. 1.Burning ghat – where
dead bodies are burnt
down
2.erupt- throwing out
(fire/light)
3.phosphorescene- bright
light of fire (coming from
the buring dead bodies)
23. In this poem, the poet describes a ghat where dead body
is cremated. One day the poet is wandering with his
father nearby a ghat.
He sees the red-hot embers still glowing many hours
after a dead body has been cremated.
He is shocked.
Parsi instead of cremating their dead bodies carry it to
the "Tower of silence" to put there in.
He is horrified to see such cruel act.
24. The poet once twenty five years back had
consigned his first child to the flames because
the 'tower of silence' was far away from his
residence.
The poet says that to burn a dead body is an
inhuman act.
He regrets that he had consigned his own child
to the fire.
He says that he has committed a sin by doing
this inhuman cruel act. He asks forgiveness.
