O. P. ARORA

O. P. ARORA

Anguish

Anguish

the stony statue

sitting in my soul

prodding, provoking

sprouting, spreading its tentacles…

Like a precious treasure

I protected it

embraced it

lived by it…

One day

a light flashed

I realized

it had only

debased me, demeaned me, defeated me…

Surgical knife!

I operated upon it

took it out

threw it into the deep sea…

Everything melted…

Miracle!

It became love

I became love…

Like in a surgical operation

remnants always remain

it too does bother me

at times

but I snub it…

Unheeded, it goes back

into the limbo…

With my pestilent past

I made peace.

Now, I am at peace.

The world too is at peace.

Nowhere

What road?

This or that

do you reach anywhere?

Here, there, anywhere

how does it matter?

It’s all, nowhere…

What destination?

Every destination

sickens you soon

urges you to a new destination…

Realization dawns

sooner or later

all restlessness, meaningless

all struggle, futile

all collection, possession, acquisition

a big burden…

Everything ends up

in stupefaction, depression…

Life

or lifelessness

gradually drives you

inch by inch

to the final destination…

Tango Of Violence

Violence

man’s bane

smears his face

with red, horror and shame…

Violence

turns the devil in him

into a Dracula

defeats godliness…

Animal too

look at him

with disgust and wonder…

Violence

self-deceptive, self-destructive

dehumanizes man

defies Nature too…

Primitivism prevails

evolution fails…

Why wars

when you can live in peace

why hatred

when you can have the bliss of love

why destroy

when you can create

why ugliness

when you can bathe in beauty

why be a beast

when you can be a man?

O. P. ARORA

Dr O. P. ARORA is a renowned poet, novelist and short story writer. Seven  volumes of his poems have endeared him to the readers and critics alike. His love for Nature, his penetrating social insight and his philosophical profundity lend a unique charm to his writings. His poems have been published in almost all the leading literary journals and have been generously included in most of the prominent anthologies. Exclusive full-length chapters on his poetry have appeared in various significant studies made by celebrated poets / critics on Indian English Poetry. He has been awarded Certificates of Excellence consecutively for two years, in 2018 & 2019, by The Poetry Society of India for his poems in their prestigious anthologies. Some of his poems have been translated into Spanish and Portuguese. His three novels and a collection of his short stories have been highly appreciated as the true portrayal of contemporary India. He has an excellent academic record culminating in his Doctorate in English Literature from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He has taught in Delhi University for nearly four decades.