Dhruva Harsh

Dhruva Harsh

Writers for Change: Neelabh


"To be Marxist in Literature is not bad habit"



Neelabh’s Marxism is not like author-function. His marxism is a very wide field comprising a theory of economics, history, society and revolution. It might be abuse to have with this ideology only for those, who keeps mentality ‘To be self imposing democrat’. But it is often said that Marxist assign a structure to social reality, and they are interested system in examining the ways on which on socioeconomic system determines own life and experiences. This is reflected in his poems as discourse. His poetry unlike, “spontaneous overflow”, but asserts the intellectual phenomenology with his ‘deep felt’ expression about the condition of living people. How this is being bad to worse, shameful!


"इस दौर में
हत्यारे और भी नफीस होते जाते है
मारे जाने वाले और भी दयनीय"

In the very first line of this poem, If you fee down hearted. It seems to be melancholic in tone. When he was composing this one, probably he would have been in the fond of full remembrance with remote past, like Plato’s ‘utopia’ that’s why he could not stop himself to be connected with rich history, therefore he sings in very pessimistic view in the following lines-


"वह युग नहीं रहा जब बंदी कहता था
वैसा ही सलूक करो मेरे साथ
जैसा करता है राजा दूसरों के साथ"

His doctrines that humanity has doomed and world is full of follies and vices, where truth has lost his charm and there is no need of ‘Gandhianism’, because, Its only been cultural practice for intellectuals. Neither his philosophy can’t hand over down trodden to the grain of food nor ‘ return Romeo to Juliet’, then what means of this inert philosophy.

Now this is mere dark empire of Satan, where about, no one, who can have power to control the world, things like God!

Bad agents are standing everywhere, and helping to make corrupt the nations.


"शैतान को अब अपने निष्ठावान पिट्ठुओं को
बुलाना नहीं पड़ता
मौजूद है मनुष्य ही अब
यह फर्ज निभाने को
पहले से बढ़ती हुई तादाद में"

There is opposite similarity between Milton’s last quatrain of his self entitled famous sonnet “On His Blindness”, and Neelabh's last stanza of his above poem.


“His state
Is kingly: thousand at his bidding speed
And post over land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait”


"परधानमंत्री जी
बहुत दिनों से कोशिश कर रहा हूँ
आतंकवादी बनने की
मगर नाकाम रहा हूँ"

There is intention which made him much more connotative and he has been instigated to write impure Hindi words only for making political satire to the ruling system, which is being governed by the Prime-Minister. There is dual personality reflection in the word “I”. There is clash going over between “I” and existing body. The word “I” might be ‘base’ and thought to be a terrorist might be ‘Super structure’. Sometimes, it seems quite similar to Washington Allston’s coined term objective correlative which means “The only way of expressing emotion”. Eliot wrote, “Is by finding an objective Correlative”, in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion like Eliot’s Prufrock love song, a Hamlet-like interior monologue explores modern mind in conflict, cynical and afraid of certainties.


"कई बार कोशिश करने पर भी विफलता ही
जीवन की कथा रही।"


The poet is not talking about his attempt but all attempts which had been made by his predecessors have proved unsuccessful.


"शायद वजह यह हो कि जिस तरह
अपने टेके घुटने उसी हुकूमत के सामने
जिसे अपने मुल्क से निकालने में
हजा़रों-हजार कुर्वानियाँ दी थी
मेरे पुरखो ने"


In the very opening line of this stanza is made me stoppable "शायद वजह यह हो".  वजह means Ideas and education which is being taught to make us impotent barefoot like, Hegelian philosophy of idealism which maintains that the world is governed by thought Ideas, not men, rule the world. Material existence is the expression of an immaterial spiritual essence, but such philosophy is refuted by Marx.

The Colonial Ideas remain left and ruling over the nation, Now the Government would do the same that is what used to be in the Colonial India, at that time when we made revolt rewarded by death sentence and considered martyr but in recent times, when we take initiative against ruling government we are supposed to be Naxalites!


"हिन्दुस्तान के चमचा सरताजों
मैं एक अदना-सा चमचा
तुम्हारा इस्तक़बाल करता हूँ."

Being failed by attempting to be terrorist, It is said
"मैं एक अदना सा चमचा तुम्हारा इस्तकबाल करता हूँI"
 left mere slave and welcome you’. Even I attempted hard to be a RDX, TNT, but could not do.

In the last line of this poem patriotism is being mocked "आपको इस महान भारत भूमि पर". It seems quite ironical. To be patriotic might be only repressive bourgeoisie, because there is nothing to be patriotic. It is only meant by intellectuals for self security. This is mere Ideology which promotes false class consciousness Patriotism, religion, individualism, consumerism are all the different manifestations of repressive bourgeoisie ideology.

There is enlightened thought of ‘Leninism’ under the revolutionary carpet in the following lines:



"ओझल है हत्यारों की मांद
ओझल है संसद के नीचे जमा होते
किसानों के खूँन के तालाब
ओझल है देश के सबसे बड़े व्यापारी की टकसाल"

Here, poet is pleading for down-trodden especially for, proletariat, who have forgotten that the power structures can only be altered by the coming together of the proletariat, forgetting its division.

There is full shadow of symbolism by means of this, we are forced to go deep down and find suggestion of that word -

‘‘बिच्छुओं का पहरा है
कोबरा ताक लगाये बैठे है’’

Both words would have their connotations concerning with politics

‘‘क्यों खोयी पहचान साथी
पाया है धन मान साथी’’

The poem gives very satirical picture to the modern society which only cares about luxuries and consumptions. The poem ends on a note of bitterness awkward rhetorical questions like-

"क्यों खोयी पहचान साथी"

In this Poem discussions going over lost Identity. In the modern times men are not being recognized by their Identity but by their social status, that’s why they are in great doubt and fear which is reflected in this couple of lines-


"फिर क्यों तेरे मन में भय है
कैसा यह दिल में संशय है"


It also might be reason that they have applied shortcut method to accumulate money therefore they are feeling fearsome as if this following line shares-


"जनता तुझसे आस लगाये
तू धन दौलत में भरमाये"


In the other poem titled “Udeek”, Neelabh has coloured paper by giving abstract picture of sensuousness where olfactory sense giving perfume of sweat but suddenly it breaks when he introduces surrealistic imagery in his last couple of lines-


"नये खून के दिन
नये खून के दिनों की तरह"


Sometimes Urdu words written in Devnagri distorts the organic unity of thought, it is nothing more like Robert Frost's poem in which first he starts from point A and goes to point B, the xenith of full imagination and later comes to the real world and maintains triangle of thoughts.

Good dialogue written in metre is the quality of reciting lyrics as Sahir Ludhianvi used to pen for Bollywood ever. Here Marxism is being showcased in the last line of the revolutionary claimed poem-


"आओ साथी सुर मिलाओ
बारूदी राग गाओ"


There is dim ray for upcoming future but it remain left foot prints of 'Poor Leninism’ and he also made slogan shouting as ever shouted by Marx and Engel's.

" Labourers of the world unite"

Red blood is giving dead revolutionary encouragement to the soul. Lyrical charm seems to be fed up because it could not maintain rhythm yet it has been attempted well. When we come close to know the reality of his craft,then we get that somehow we are forced to accept the imposing laws of society, as well as accept to the canon 'mighty is right'. There is no humanity at all and society never bothers about individual instinct. "To make dialectic the individual by imposing laws upon them", but literature reflects and distorts social reality.

Hungarian Marxist George Luckas says that literature is knowledge of reality and not just a mirroring of it.

Finally Neelabh succeeded to leave his psychology over Hindi literature because he is not much more different than victim of society. He has been a poet who has been gifted with a prolific pen. He is the poet of victim and has got guts to raising war against conventional society. He attacks dogma of modernism. It represents individuals who are alienated from society. The literary work is not to be understood as the expression of the author-self or his individual genius (as the Romantics believed) but the expression of social class. A literary work is the collective product of a social community on which Neelabh has proven himself.