DALIP KHETARPAL

DALIP KHETARPAL

A Triumphant Defeat

Rootless, I was piqued by wander-lust

To set out on the unknown journey

In quest for roots

To root myself firmly.

Suddenly, I lost trail, lost my sense of direction;

Even my intuitive compass failed me,

Leaving me meandering and groping in the wilderness.

Tired, all my ambition and strong urge to search waned,

Reaching or not reaching anywhere bothers me not

For my newly evolved post-defeat- let- go turn of mind

Has made me feel that every place I sleep is my home,

Everyone I speak to

Is my brethren.

My miserable defeat then

Suddenly turns into a glorious triumph

In just the twinkling of an eye.

Jolts of misfortune or unsettled mental plight

Are salubrious as it often brings psychic changes

And mellows one’s vision and outlook on life,

Sobering down one’s deeds as well.

Vain Dreams Of Lost Souls

One often leads to finally

Even doubting one’s own self

With undeterred skepticism

And seeming cerebral blossoming,

Throwing him into regions---

---unknown even to himself.

Men on this planet are lost souls,

Fumbling in confusion to discover their real self.

When they fail, they dream of finding a new way

To realize their dream of discovering themselves.

Dreams betoken unconscious desires,

Thoughts and motivations;

They are also disguised fulfillments

Of repressed desires.

Knowing that dreams are also

An unconscious airy phenomenon,

Many still try to dream a dream of their choice,

Converting natural dream into a contrived phenomenon.

Craving to dream the dream he wants,

He often sleeps with vain hopefulness.

One often likes to dream

For something better and luxuriate in it,

For reality is grim and dream, its escape route.

Opposing internal and external forces

Keeps one from living one’s dreams,

Still the incorrigible dreamer tries to dream.

Conscious on occasions rare

Of the dream even while dreaming

He is adept at switching his unpleasant dream

To another acceptable dream and enjoy it.

Constant change of area is as easy

As changing of TV channels for few dreamers.

Consequently, finding himself crushed

Under many layers of dreams

He vainly gropes in his airy dreams for truth,

For the realization of his dreams,

Of his lost self

That will never be restored

And so fails to live all his preceding

Uncountable dreams.

Waking up with a sudden jolt,

He shuns the harsh fearful reality

As the eyes shun the dazzling sun.

Reality is action and action is an achievement

Of whatever one wants.

Dreams give transient relief to tension,

But lasting solution to all problems,

Retrieval of one’s lost self/soul

And realization of his true identity are possible

Only through action in the world of reality.

 

Heroes And Zeroes

History is galore

With the lore

Of heroes and zeroes

Both ancient and modern

That engulfs this planet

With countable heroes,

And ironically, uncountable zeroes,

Though on one single platform

Are both placed,

Stupidly and ironically rather placing

Zeroes on a pedestal higher.

Distinction betwixt the true and false

Easy to decipher, but hard to spotlight

As strong marketing tactics and skills often

Prove the false, true,

As the weak marketing,

Proves the true, false.

Most painfully, shamefully and ironically,

Only gods who have been properly marketed,

Are worshipped, their idols sold

And their places of worship, elegantly constructed, decked too.

Marketing is galore everywhere in theory and practice---

------in politics, education, human demeanour

And all socio-legal interactions

‘cause falsities that suppress and crush all truths

Are galore.

Sans skilful marketing, products, howsoever good,

Cannot be sold, have no place in the world

Which is nothing but a big market

Where mostly shady deals take place,

Where everything is bought and sold

Where everyone buys and sells,

Be they moral values, thoughts sublime

Honesty or integrity, truth, love or sincerity.

Through efficient marketing, zeroes turn heroes

And through poor marketing, heroes become zeroes.

Evincing a dismal scenario of huge trading crowd,

Wild and mad transactions go on endlessly

Even beyond the comprehension and control of gods and angels.

Did God plan the way this world is?

DALIP KHETARPAL

DALIP KHETARPAL: Generally known as an off-beat writer, Dr Dalip Khetarpal’s earlier poems as witnessed in 'Fathoming Infinity' (1st and 2nd revised edition) were psychological in nature and dealt basically with the human psyche and the unconscious and subconscious mind. But he later shifted his focus to other wider desultory areas of life, like psychological aspects of man-woman relationship, spiritual love, sex, deceptive myths, mysteries of life, human soul and God, but not without elements of humanism and sometimes, metaphysicism as reflected in his anthologies: 'Ripping into consciousness', 'Refractions' respectively. The anthology entitled 'Sculptured Psyche' though consists of some of the cardinal elements of the previous anthologies, unravels an endless quest to comprehend and highlight the vagaries of deep-rooted complexes, illusions, delusions and false notions of various vital issues of life man has fostered since the dawn of civilization. 'The havoc such issues create raises some pertinent questions, which reflect the eternal conflict among the three components of the human psyche, i.e. id, ego and superego, a la Sigmund Freud. The anthology, ‘Weird Musings,’ despite integrating and highlighting all the aforementioned elements, is a powerful and trenchant attack on the socio-moral evils and almost all contemporary abuses perceptible in this grim scenario. However, his satire is not caustic, for he compassionately tempers it with wit, irony and humor. Despite his own creative undertakings, Dr Dalip has been contributing his poems, reviews, criticisms, appraisals on the works of various prominent poets, novelists and short story writers to various reputed national and international journals and magazines. He received commendation from widely read newspapers and won laurels, certificates and awards of excellence from India as well as from other countries like USA, UK, Canada, Italy, Greece, etc, for his creative writings. Currently, he is working as the Editor-in-Chief of The Poetry Society of India (patronized by its Founder President, Late Dr Yayati Madan G Gandhi), as the editor of 'The Contemporary Literary Review of India', an international journal, and also as the co-editor and columnist of 'Contemporary Vibes', the refereed journal of literary criticism and creative writing. He is also working as Managing Director of a reputed educational institution. Dr Dalip Khetarpal. Author, poet, critic, reviewer, columnist and short story writer. Former Administrator and Academician.