Magadh

by Shrikant Verma

Poetry. Shrikant Verma's crowning achievement, was published in Hindi in 1984 and has established itself as one of the key works of late 20th century Indian poetry. Speaking both archly and urgently through unreliable narrators commoners, statesmen, wanderers, people close to power (but never in power) often like a kind of prudent and duplicitous advice for the ears of monarchs, the 56 poems range widely in tone from nostalgic to ironic to bitter to sorrowful.

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2013

Reviews

[Ritika · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of stories set around the kingdom of Magadh.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking to read poetry in translation and through Champaca's recommendation chanced upon Rahul Soni's translation of Shrikant Verma's opus "Magadh". Verma was not just one of the stalwarts of "Nayi Kavita", he was a spokesperson of the Congress party during Emergency, and this collection marries his sensibility as a poet with the fears and frustrations of a political insider.
Magadh, Kosambi, Vaishali, Taxila, Nalanda. The names are familiar from history books. But in the book, they are largely metaphorical and used to communicate a certain disenchantment with the socio-political reality of the day. To quote from the introduction, 'As the poet says, But the poet himself has made it clear that the Magadh of this poem is not the Magadh of history: ‘this is not the Magadh you’ve read about in books,’ he cautions his readers.'
Reading the poems in today's context is particularly thought provoking. The themes continue to be relevant, maybe more so than when the book was written.
'Maharaj, haven’t you wondered how anyone can be happy and not say a thing?', could describe today's reality, proving yet again that everything is cyclical, since we never seem to be able to learn from history.
When I came to the end of the book, I hesitated only for a moment before getting the Hindi original. I look forward to reading them simultaneously.
I end with the last poem of the book (in the original and the translation)-
‘A Year of Poems’
जो लिखा,
व्यर्थ था
जो नहीं लिखा,
अनर्थ था

What I wrote,
useless
What I did not,
meaningless

[foolscap · Rating 1 out of 5]

a reminder how painfully sterile a translation can be

[Mohit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this recommendation from Mint Lounge of last week and expected it to be something really amazing as had just finished a wonderful book in Hindi. Not so much. To me it was quite underwhelming and passable.

[Amit Tiwary · Rating 5 out of 5]

*** TO ENTER DETAILED REVIEW SOON ***.

Gem of a collection. Shrikant Verma's best.

[Kartik Chauhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As we read a book of poems, the world around us becomes more muted and yet louder at the same time. I read somewhere recently that there’s nothing that a good book of poems cannot help us resolve, from broken hearts to tired minds. ‘Magadh’, in its deeply despairing and desolate world, is a shining testament to this fact.

I have never felt more incapable to comment on a book. The poems in this volume landed heavily on my mind and heart.

As Rahul Soni, the translator of the poems, writes in his introductory note—even as the poems are titled and suggestively allegorical in their content—the historical references scattered through them are like ‘totems’. All great art, as he suggests, is more than just about a particular moment or place. It creates, in my opinion, wormholes.

Reading these poems—which are impossible to describe in terms of a consistent theme or subject—is an enchanting experience. They are about ‘Kaal’. Which roughly and dully translates in English to Time. But the inherent sense of dispossession and decay-dismay are the additional merits that the word has in Hindi. These are poems about the banality of grand narratives, from nationalism to totalitarianism (are they same?) and poems about the the self-consuming, ouroboros quality of human endeavours, power and history.

I also loved these poems, because of the way that they understand and recreate places, and indeed, allow, through the medium of words, an access to a riveting spatialised reading. As you inhabit the worlds within these poems, and constantly realize how profoundly they capture the reality of our own—from pandemics and juridical silences to religious delusions and political assassinations—something shifts in your mind. If enough of these shifts happen, perhaps we can be better prepared for General Elections next year.

Read it, it’s outrageously brilliant.

[Sauveer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judge for yourself. A poem from this book.

कोई छींकता तक नहीं
इस डर से
कि मगध की शांति
भंग न हो जाय,
मगध को बनाए रखना है, तो,
मगध में शांति
रहनी ही चाहिए
मगध है, तो शांति है
मगध है, तो शांति है
कोई चीखता तक नहीं
इस डर से
कि मगध की व्यवस्था में
दखल न पड़ जाय
मगध में व्यवस्था रहनी ही चाहिए

मगध में न रही
तो कहाँ रहेगी?

क्या कहेंगे लोग?
लोगों का क्या?
लोगों का क्या?
लोग तो यह भी कहते हैं
मगध अब कहने को मगध है,
रहने को नहीं

कोई टोकता तक नहीं
इस डर से

कि मगध में
टोकने का रिवाज न बन जाय
एक बार शुरू होने पर
कहीं नहीं रुकता हस्तक्षेप
कहीं नहीं रुकता हस्तक्षेप -
वैसे तो मगधनिवासियो
कितना भी कतराओ
तुम बच नहीं सकते हस्तक्षेप से -
जब कोई नहीं करता
तब नगर के बीच से गुजरता हुआ
मुर्दा
यह प्रश्न कर हस्तक्षेप करता है -
मनुष्य क्यों मरता है?

[James Kinsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm lousy at reading poetry. I find it difficult, both to concentrate on and to understand. I can't pretend I unlocked the mysteries of Magadh, but I have to say I really rather enjoyed it. Is that enough? For a first read, maybe.

[Tuhin Bhowal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read only in Hindi.

[Tanu Goel Srivastava · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvellous work. Absolute must read. Subtle yet powerful messages. Could get a sense of existentialism, empathy with public innocence as well as a political satire.

[DwijoG · Rating 5 out of 5]

It blows my mind that this collection was written by the man who coined the term ‘Garibi Hatao’ for Indira Gandhi’s 1971 campaign. How strange the turns of a mind through a lifetime.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

ISBN
9781916751330 (paperback edition)

A series of spare, enigmatic poems describe the rise, corruption, descent into autocracy, and fall of governments and empires amidst a complacent populace.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got the vibe, had fun.

[Ankita Chauhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

जो लिखा
व्यर्थ था
जो नहीं लिखा
अनर्थ था।
- श्रीकांत वर्मा

[Priyesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

very strongly reminds me of invisible cities