NILAVRONILL TALKING WITH
POET OF THE MONTH
SAJID HUSSAIN
NILAVRONILL: Welcome to Our Poetry
Archive, dear poet. We would like to know, what has inspired you to start
writing at first? Especially poetry. And about your favorite writers in the
growing phase of your life.
SAJID HUSSAIN: To begin with, I would like to say that I am grateful to you because
you invited me to this interview and provided me with a chance to express my
ideas. My surrounding, where my Urdu poetic friends cast the shadows of
influence of writing especially through symposium and poetic recitals, deeply
inclined me towards writing but I chose English the way of writing. B. Shelley
and John Keats have always been my favorite poets and their work has
significantly contributed towards my poetic path. Their lyrical richness, the
sensitivity and the vision influenced me to use English poetry as a medium of
expression. On top of them I have been much impressed by the love of nature and
calm romanticism of William Wordsworth. John Milton and Robert Frost, whose
writings possess deep thoughts and philosophical overtones, have also
influenced my poetic sense.
NILAVRONILL: I think living
together with a particular language is very much essential in writing poems in
any particular language. And this experience makes a poet more mature in his or
her literary writings. I would like to know your own experiences, especially when
you write both in your own language and in a foreign language such as English.
SAJID HUSSAIN: Suffice to say, English is not
a mother tongue to me, despite the fact that I speak Punjabi as well as Urdu. I
was in English and yet I feel that only after the culture and the beat of a
language get ingrained in the consciousness and then sinks into subconscious
that one can master the language fully. Up to that point, it is not easy to
write profoundly, or use words that best represent what one thinks. It is never
easy to pick the correct words and form the ideas into the context of a foreign
language. But when a language starts to penetrate your inner thoughts and
become a part of your thinking process, your manifestation in the language
turns to be natural and authentic. Majority of my friends wrote using Urdu
though I preferred using English since I felt more joyful and free to express
using the English language. With time, I started to believe that English
enabled me to express my ideas in a better and more creative way. Language is
merely a means of expression of our thoughts. It is good to write in the most
comfortable and natural language. I never really took Urdu as my literary
language, and even have not written much in Urdu. In its place, I adopted the
English language as the one of my expressions, and with time, I realized that
this language fits me better. But I am not sure that it is always easier to be
creative in the native language, and in literature, I believe that the majority
of masterpieces are created in the native language of the authors.
NILAVRONILL: Do you think the primary obligation of a
poet should be to communicate with the temporal as well as with the eternal
essence of life and the universe? If so, how can one fulfil that particular
obligation?
SAJID HUSSAIN: Yes, I think that the task of the poet is to immerse himself in the
temporal and eternal elements of existence. Poetry must not only be a mirror of
those things that were present in the visible part of human life, its pleasures
and sufferings, its struggles and aspirations, but must also go above this to
meet those things which are unseen, spiritual and the truth which endures
eternally that regulates the universe. The poet satisfies this duty by being
responsive to all the throbs of life, by noticing the world both rationally and
spiritually. A poet is able to open the gap that exists between the human and
the divine through self-reflection, empathy, and the conscious awareness of the
rhythm of nature and this will be used to turn the ordinary experience into a
universal one. When the language and expression of one is congruent with this
inner vision, then poetry is a container of time and eternity.
NILAVRONILL: Literature encompasses
every aspect of life; it blends the various shades and textures of human
aspirations as well as drawbacks. It also lights up the new horizons and new
dimensions of human capabilities relentlessly. I would like to know your
particular viewpoints; how do you relate all these in your own writings?
SAJID HUSSAIN: A poet can never be left insensitive to the
world he is living in. His vision is formed by his own surroundings, the soul
of his era, the currents of thoughts in the whole world. Our globalized society
and all the social, cultural, and moral forces resonate across the boundaries
and poet unconsciously hears the call and reacts to these changes in his work. But
poetry is not limited to the temporal alone. The work of the poet goes further
in bringing the visible and the invisible, the transient and the unchanging
together. The poetry is in earnestness getting the outer experience to the
inner contemplation when what one notices of the world interacts with what the
soul contemplates as well. The poet should not just hear people but also be able
to hear the sound of universe that is very low. It is in that combination of
experience and exploration, that poetry can have a human fertility, as well as
an eternal echo.
NILAVRONILL: We cannot live immune to the
sociopolitical disturbances of our surroundings. How much these disturbances
make substantial impacts upon your literary self? Do you actually respond to
all these factors through your words? I mean in your poetry, especially.
SAJID HUSSAIN: The literature reflects the way people think,
perceive and experience. It is the nature of our world, the forces which make
our world what it is and the changes which touch the human life. It is a
reflective of hardships, dreams, pains, and pleasures that characterize our
universal humanity. My own works are highly inspired by the personal
experiences, what I like or dislike, what happened to my surroundings, what I
read that influenced me, or what happened in my life. I attempt to put those moments
and feelings into words, to use poetry and project them into thoughts which
link the individual to the universal. Literature to me is an ongoing process
and part of human life. The thoughts and the world of human beings change along
with their evolution. In my opinion, it is not the task of a writer to reflect
the life as it is but to show what it can be. As a part of my work, I endeavour
to discover the totality of life where beauty and pain, hope and despair,
success and failure, and all exist together, and to blend the moral, emotional,
and spiritual sides of human existence. To me writing is observation and
contemplation. It is the effort to see the weakness and the power of human
spirit, to open new horizons of thinking and to ask readers to re-discover
themselves in the larger context of human beings. To what extent I have managed
to do so, I leave to the decision of my readers.
NILAVRONILL: Do you believe
creative souls flourish more in turmoil than in peace?
SAJID HUSSAIN: The real nature of poetry is the emotions,
feelings and thoughts. The creative inspiration of a poet is frequently of an
inner awakening, the awakening of a storm or of calmness. Emotions are powerful
when the soul is troubled and it has to be manifested. The poet writes
thoughtfully and perceptively in times of stillness giving the work a serene
and profound tone. Creativity is crucial in both turmoil and peace. Unrest
increases sensitivity, reveals subtextual levels of thought and forces forth
sincerity. The sharpness of perception and understanding, especially, is
enhanced by pain. Peace, however, is peaceful, and it brings clarity and
composure, the calmness in which emotions rest in meaning. Poetry must have an
inner motion which is sincere, which imparts a spark to words, a feeling to
words. As always happens when something or someone hits me, it becomes verse.
In what I write, I achieve satisfaction in providing form to what is
experienced in the heart and thought in the mind. It is, in my opinion, only
when the poet writes not only out of the lived emotion, but out of it also.
Words can be made without that interior ringing, but without that beat of
sincerity. Personally, I have experienced that, in most cases, poetry starts in
trouble but ends in tranquility.
NILAVRONILL: Do you believe that all
writers are by and large the product of their nationality? And is this an
incentive for or an obstacle against becoming a truly international writer?
SAJID HUSSAIN: Each author bears the stamp of his nationality.
Language, culture and social realities of the native land influence perception
and impact creativity. These are roots that give a writer authenticity and
individuality in his or her voice. National identity does not restrict, but
rather is a source of depth and colour of literary work. Meanwhile, literature
itself is cross-cultural. Authentic feelings and experiences are a universal
language that have the power to reach the hearts of all people. A mere
reflection of a local life may become a universal meaning if the writing is
done with sincerity and empathy. The better one relates to his own culture,
the more authenticity he will show feelings that every human being has. When
a poet writes in a different language some echo of the native rhythm and
cultural tones will appear even then. The lines frequently exude folk memories,
idioms, and inherited sensibilities and make the work have a personality. The
language can however, present some challenges in writing in a foreign language,
we usually learn about its cultural peculiarities through the study as opposed
to personal experience. However, today, with the world connected around, this
gap has been reduced. Writers have an opportunity to live in various linguistic
and cultural worlds through regular exposure to a variety of voices,
literature, and art. Thus, nationality is not a border but rather a bridge,
connecting one’s origins and the unity of the human spirit and a creative
expression can find an echo in human culture.
NILAVRONILL: Our Indian
subcontinent had a colonial past. We too are the product of this colonial
legacy through our education, social upbringings and political cultures.
Consciously or even unconsciously most of our literary works bear this marks
either explicitly or implicitly. I would like to know your own experience on
this matter, in respect of your own literary works.
SAJID HUSSAIN: Colonization always leaves the indelible mark
of its conquerors in any region that is colonized. The lives and minds of the
people who were governed by the colonizers are left with a scar following the
impact of the colonizers. In the scenario of our Pak -Indian subcontinent, it
has not taken very long since both Pakistan and India came out of British rule.
Our societies were strongly influenced by the colonial system and especially
their mode of education and administration. Both countries still use English,
the language of the colonizers, as an official language. It is through a strong
British influence that our entire educational set-up and our political
institutions are still dominated. We can say the same thing about our culture
which has been imbibing most of these aspects of that colonial past. Nowadays
our school teaching is split between English and our national languages, and
the duality has had its own ineradicable impressiveness upon our literary and
intellectual life. The influence can be particularly seen in literature. To a
large extent what we express creatively, whether in thought or form, is somehow
of that received system. The control of English language in education and
science has strengthened its presence as an expression of most writers
including mine. Although this influence brings us nearer to a wider
international literary tradition, it also causes us to assert our own cultural
identity within the latter.
NILAVRONILL: Would you consider, it
should be the goal of a poet to enlightens the readers towards a much greater
apprehensions of life and eternity in general? Or is it better to write poems
only to console the poet’s soul? Do you believe, literature can eventually help
people to uplift human conscience?
SAJID HUSSAIN: A real poet in his aesthetic faculty does not
only wonder at beauty as the food of the soul and the richness of the soul; but
also brings a more profound awareness to consciousness. He stirs human soul,
contemplates the troubles of the society, and sees the good and bad sides of
life clearly, compassionately, and honestly. His art does not simply concern
itself with his own gratification; but with the opening of thought and feeling
in others, with calling them to a broader vision and a sharper perception of
life. When a poet speaks out his inner world with all the sincerity, he is a
messenger of the humanity a voice that appeals to the conscience of time. In
his poems, he changes individual and group experiences into a calling to life
upliftment. He sees how the world is shifting, he glorifies the good and the
righteous, and he speaks up fearlessly to talk of right and wrong. The beauty
and the imperfection of life are contained in his insight and transformed
poetry to the reflection of the truth and a tool that perfects the human
spirit. In my case, the poetry can start as a whisper internally, as a way of
self-expression, but the point goes much further than the self. It can fulfill
itself most truly when it touches another soul, when it awakes thought and
feeling and awareness. I feel that poetry must not only comfort the poet; it
must open the eyes of the reader and he must see the beauty and the truths in
the stream of life. The best form of literature elevates the conscience of
mankind. It makes us wiser, more compassionate and makes us remember that we
are all human beings. It makes us stretch our minds to think beyond our ethical
limits and lead a moral and emotional life. Literature ought to hearten and to
cerebrate; in seeking to infect the soul with light; it becomes a moral power,
light which helps the human race to walk in harmony, in light, in the discovery
of the eternal in the temporal. Poetry is therefore art, but it is also a work
of the soul--a light of fire which illuminates the head, fills the heart and
elevates life to its sublime end.
NILAVRONILL: Personally, I do
consider that literary criticism is too important in our writings to ignore it.
Now please tell us your viewpoints on this, how do you handle literary
criticism?
SAJID HUSSAIN: In my opinion, literary criticism is a critical
part of a creative process. It perfects aesthetic sight, develops intellectual,
and fills the gap between the author, reader, and the literature at large. No
author writes in a vacuum; every literary work in the world is in some dialogue
with the world and criticism is the most significant mode of dialogue. An
honest and critical critic brings a poet or an author to a new stage of
creative manhood. Criticism brings out all the dimensions of a writers work in
terms of depth, structure, and beauty just like the prism sheds some light on
the concealed colours of a gem. It not only praises artistic power, but also
determines what requires further improvement and development. So, in this
manner, it turns into an essential power in developing thought and expression.
As an individual, I consider criticism as a healthy friend of creativity. I
form an open mind and humble attitude towards it because I do not view it as a
problem to my individuality but rather as a way to learn and grow. An honest
critic is likely to see what the artist may fail to notice, nuances of lapse of
clarity, tone, or depth of thought. Their wisdom makes me re-evaluate my
decisions, how my words may sound and reinforce my intentions in writing. But I
know that I have to be discerning as well. Criticism is not always valuable.
Criticism can be constructive and add value to the creative process leaving
prejudiced or shallow critique behind. It is all about listening and not losing
one’s voice and growing without losing its authenticity. Finally, I see the
literary criticism as the enlightenment rather than the opposition. It swerves
the intellect, cleanses expression and takes a poem that is a personal
discovery and makes it a universal art that links with hearts, minds and
generations.
NILAVRONILL: Humanity has suffered
immensely in the past, and is still suffering around the world. We all know it
well. As a poet or even as a literary person, how do you foresee the future of
mankind?
SAJID HUSSAIN: The history of humanity has seen a number of
rises and falls. The strong have always subjugated the weak and to this day,
this trend still exists. The bigger nations of the so-called civilized world
still inflict the weaker ones, allowing the superiority of power. We find
decisions made all over the world against injustice, but on a rare occasion,
they are carried out. The protest increases, the conscience speaks, but the
screams of the oppressed are frequently lost in the clatter of power. Such a
world cannot allow a poet or writer to be silent. He is required to be a
witness to witness with his eyes, his heart, and his mouth. An authentic
creator does not create to escape the reality but challenges it. He uses the
surrounding world, his memories and his inner perception, personal and
collective experience and makes them into the art that serves as a reflection
of the truth of the time. His words remind the society about the moral
consciousness which they tend to forget. In my opinion, the history of humanity
is not the history of desolation but of resistance. In each state of darkness
is the seed of enlightenment. All misery, wars, injustice, notwithstanding, the
human spirit survives and wants light. The task of the poet is, then, to breed this
light, to rekindle compassion and to reminiscence to man of his common lot.
Literature and poetry are tools of enlightenment. More than they console they
change thought and perception. They address us to live in harmony, to strike a
balance, between reason and emotion, self and society, man and nature.
Literature, under the guidance of the conscience and compassion is a pathway
between the suffering and hope, ignorance and knowledge.
NILAVRONILL: We are almost at the end
of the interview. I remain obliged to you for your participation. Now,
personally I would like to know your honest opinion about Our Poetry Archive.
Since April 2015 we are publishing and archiving contemporary world poetry each
and every month. Thank you for sharing your views and spending much time with
us.
SAJID HUSSAIN: My participation in Our Poetry Archive has been
an honour, and one that has continued to exhibit an impressive level of
consistency and vision in maintaining the spirit of contemporary world poetry.
Since its inception in 2015, OPA has been a thriving channel of communication
between poets, readers, and cultures between the continents. It has been a
priceless place where voices of different parts of the world are united (each
one telling his or her own truth, emotion, cultural richness) and playing a
role in the literary dialogue of the world. Each issue of Our Poetry Archive
every month shows quality in thinking and craftsmanship. It reflects the
creative heartbeat of mankind the voices of old poets and the voices of new
ones who have a new point of vision and imagination to add to the literature of
the world. With such a steadfast commitment, OPA has made poetry an alive
manifestation of a shared consciousness in that there is a union of language,
culture, and emotion. Our Poetry Archive to me is not just a publication but a
living archive to the human thought and emotion. It leaves the poetical nature
of our age to the generations ahead, the eternal relationship between the
creativity and humanity. I personally regard the whole editorial team of OPA
especially your "NILAVRONILL” with a great respect. They are committed,
sincere and have an aesthetic sense which has seen this platform shine as a
light to poets all over the world. the manner in which they still develop and
fete poetic voices in such a graceful and constant manner is certainly
admirable. Their work exemplifies a radiant embodiment of the devotion to the
literature, the closer uniting of hearts, minds, and cultures with the help of
the universal language of poetry.
***
Dr. SAJID HUSSAIN, born on February 1, 1969, in Morgah,
Rawalpindi, Pakistan, is a distinguished poet, educator, and advocate for
literature. He holds memberships in global literary organizations and has
received numerous accolades, including the Shahitya Pata Award and the
Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Literary Honours. He has authored acclaimed works
and contributed to international anthologies. A senior Chemistry teacher and
Master Trainer in "Low Cost and No Cost Science Material," Dr.
Hussain is also a homeopathic doctor and former principal. His poetry, often
focused on humanity and nature, is widely published and translated. Dr. Hussain
is a committed advocate for global understanding, cultural exchange, and social
justice, using his platform to inspire positive change and foster dialogue. Dr.
Sajid Hussain is the author of several acclaimed books and has co-authored
numerous international anthologies. Dr. Hussain's books and anthologies
cover themes such as love, peace, resilience, and the human condition. His
works are known for their profound empathy and eloquence, reflecting a deep
understanding of the human experience. His poetry has been featured in
prominent international magazines and websites, and he has penned over 1400
poems, published in more than 300 world anthologies and magazines, translated
into several major languages.
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