A prolific pen

Passing By

Nepali ghazal writer Basant Kumar Chaudhary was in the city recently to preside over the prestigious ‘Ghazal Kumbh’ while ghazal singers from across the nation enlivened the soiree with haunting notes all through the night.

“It was a truly awe-inspiring moment for me to see ghazalkaras spanning four different generations come together to put up the kind of show that they did. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, it would have been pretty difficult for me to believe it” Chaudhary told Metrolife.

An eminent writer in his native Nepali, Chaudhury has penned many a book on poetry, ever since he published his first piece at the age of 22. “To be honest, I had begun writing before that too, during my school days. I think it was 1985, if I am not mistaken. My folly, however, was that I never bothered to catalogue them in an assiduous manner” he confessed.

“Never in a million years did I think that writing would become such an integral part of my life.” Having accumulated a generous amount of acclaim for his writing in Nepali, Chaudhary moved towards writing in Hindi in 1999 with the primary subjects of his work being union (milan), separation (biraha) and love. Chaudhary emphasised that it is not only about the love that can exist between two individuals but love as a whole.

“Love is one of the words that can be used to describe a wide variety of things. Love for nature, beauty, one’s motherland or any other thing that an individual might feel attached to. There are no boundaries when it comes to love. I have always been an advocate of love and no matter how much love there is in the world, there is always room for more” said Chaudhary.

Apart from his regular topics Chaudhary also went on to talk about what was lacking in the poets of today. “No poet writes for his or her own self. They write for the masses. Poems and poets to me need to take up the responsibility to be the mirror of the society, the world and reflect upon them” he said.

When asked about his point of inspiration to take up the art, Chaudhary said “Poetry has been in my heart all along. It just sprang to life one day and ever since, has been flowing like a perennial river.There wasn’t a lot of inclination towards the art of writing from anyone in my family except for me. While they had a more business-oriented approach, I had my own.

I was the first in my family to start writing and doing it seriously and not out of a whim. And now I can take pride in the fact that this act has managed to make an impression on my daughter Megha, who has begun writing and even plays a few instruments with a keen ear    for music”.