Ek Swapndrashta Ka Romanticism

‘The Romanticism of a dreamer’ Is a long poem by Saumitra. If we think of long poems, Nirala’s ‘Ram ki shaktipuja’, trilochan’s ‘Nagai Mehra’, Muktibodh’s’ And here mein’, ‘Patkatha’ By Dhumil, and ‘Lukman Ali’ By Saumitra Mohan at once Spring to mind. You may also find long poems by Vishnu Khare, Leela Dhar Jagudi, Chandrakant Devtale, Man Bahadur Singh and Bhagat Rawat, but any search for the genre after them leaves you empty-handed. The present poem by Saumitra may be taken as the next page of the Hindi poetic tradition. Entering the core of the poem one feels the poet’s anxiety about the present. And what exactly is that concern? Racial violence, estrangement, loss of freedom, pillage, genocide, bloodshed in name of religion, and struggle for dominance— these are the burning issues that have not only taken hold of today’s India, but the entire world. These are the flames devouring natural human values like freedom, love, and sympathy. Saumitra is a dreamer, who has nothing to lose but a world to gain— who yearns for peace, tranquillity, and freedom for the entire humanity. He gives form to contemporary tragedy through miniature images and pictures. The truth of today’s life is not presented here through some romantic perspective, but rather through that eye for a reality in which sages like Abraham Lincoln, John Hus and Mahatma Gandhi had to lay down their lives for the sake of freedom, love, and unity. This poem written in simple, straightforward diction, presents the blood-smeared history of human cruelty, in the backdrop of which, despite hopelessness, there is yet enough sparkle of hope to make a man stand up again. Actually, it’s the quality of our native tradition which has been conveyed through a unique mode of expression. When Marium, Lincoln and Gandhi get metamorphosed into the persona of the poet, it exemplifies his life association: “halt friend stay put come! Exchange your ideas with me for humanity’s sake—” this transfer of ideas has the power to connect man with man. Saumitra in reality is a poet with a desire— a pleader for the entire humanity. With a dream for a society in which man may breathe in his natural form. This long poem is the living image of that dream. – Hari Bhatnagar.