A R T  &  F I L M S

In Quest of the Lost Being
Dr. Jaspal Singh

SOME twelve years ago Amarjit Ghuman published her first collection of poems Dupahir da Jashan. Then she got lost in the din of worldly chores. Some of the poems in the first collection were very evocative and they betrayed some promise in the shaping of the poet in future. But the literary world in these years had forgot all about the budding poet. Amarjit herself did not make any effort to make her presence felt in the literary gatherings. Now all of a sudden she emerged on the horizon with a 96 page long poem titled Nadi nu Vehna Pya. This poem is about human existence at the threshold of twenty-first century. The paradox of the human condition in this enigmatic world is presented through the image of a Rishi who is disappointed, while sitting on the terrace of a dry well.

The Rishi has God to look for help. But God being formless confuses the Rishi who requires something concrete to hold on to. Between the Rishi and God stands the poet who urges Him to rise and light a lamp for the world to see through the phenomena around. The poet feels that today's world is peopled by more prophets and less believers. So this imbalance has shattered the cosmic equilibrium. The prophets are engaged in mundane worldly matters with all kinds of human foibles, failings and flows. This awareness leads the poet to another level of consciousness. She now longs to be indifferent to the world of avarice, rapacity and covetousness and says, "Ae man/Sadh ho ja/Par! /Gal 'ch na mala pa tu/Na hath 'ch kamandali pharh tu/Na Kania di/Kutia saja tu/Na potian nu/Jakham bana tu/ Ae man/Vedanti ho ja/Ishak da harf parh tu/Hakk 'Us' da ada kar tu/Na tasbi sambh ke rakh tu/Na mela dunia da chhad tu. (O may mind become a hermit, but without any rosary, alms bowl, thatched hut and ascetic penances. Become a Vedanti, read the word of love, offer Him His deserts, throw away the begging bowl, stay around in the vanity fair of the mundane world.)

The poet believes that those who want to conquer their minds never look for oasis in the burning deserts. But the fake hermits thriving on illusions and bad faith, try to mould God in their own image though burning a ritualistic fire in His name. Man has many gaps and missing links in his consciousness, which no yogi will ever be able to fill. But the Rishi is asleep somewhere. The poet experts him to wake up since the shaking earth needs a few illuminating words. But the Rishi is trying to dig out knowledge from the barren scriptures, rather than from the multiple layers of life, making the present time, the point of departure of his quest. But in this exploration, the poet comes out as a loser. She could not join the celebration of seasons, nor could she spin God's silvery wheal. Even His name sieves out of her mind like sand.

The Rishi could render no help. The poet ultimately urges him not to weep. She believes that the earth will melt and a volcano will erupt in the sea. Even the desolate night is replete with varied sounds. The Rishi is advised to get rid of his delusion and misapprehensions. But the poet could not hold for long. She says, "Mai! /Chunukre thareh te khaloti han/Thakk Iai han/Vajuud nu sehndi hoi/Saraap bandi hoi/Ae Rabb/Is taran aurat/Khilli hai ban jandi/Te tu ohda/Rachanhar han banda." (I am standing on a rectangular terrace. I am dead tired while carrying the burden of my cursed being. O God, a woman becomes a joke like this, though You claim to be her Creator.) Here the poet speaks for the entire womankind. She prays to God to play on His flute since the crowd has collected in the streets to see the miracle take place.

The nine movements of this long poem is an inner exploratory journey spawned by a restless woman's quest for integration and harmonious consolidation within the self, after having overcome the fragmentation of her being. The poet avers, "The annoyed and estranged stream had gone to sleep in mountains. It had to flow downhill when the cloud burst. What could the saline sea do? It had to accept the stream and wash it in its saline waters. The sea got frightened while smelling the tender innocent flowers that the stream carried."

The Rishi again appears towards the end of the poem. The poet informs him that the poem is the product of agony and grief. Time gave birth to history but the poem gave meaning to life. With such ruminations, the dialogue between the Rishi and God with an interposition of the poet ends.

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A Wayward Actor Salman Khan Goes to Jail for Poaching
Jyotika J. Thukral

Bollywood actor Salman Khan is in the news once again. He has been sentenced to five-year imprisonment for hunting endangered Blackbuck in desert wildlife preserves. The actor had to spend three nights in the Central jail in Jodhpur before his bail plea was accepted on April 13. Salman was found guilty of poaching eight years ago and has been fined Rs 25,000 following his conviction under Section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Despite his celebrity status, he didn't get the usual VIP treatment that Bollywood stars are accustomed to. “Khan was dealt with like any other inmate. There was no special treatment,” prison Director M. L. Chauhan told reporters, a day after a court in Jodhpur, in western India, handed down the verdict. The actor was fed plain flat bread, vegetable curry and given an earthenware jar of water, like all the other prisoners.

If he had not obtained bail, those most affected would have been the directors currently working with him. According to Salman's secretary Vikas Kapoor, the actor is involved in projects worth Rs.1 billion. His upcoming films include Salaam-E-Ishq: A Tribute to Love, Babul, God Tussi Great Ho, Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye and Janeman.

Khan has earlier faced several separate charges of poaching and illegal possession of weapons stemming from the incident, when he and several other people allegedly drove into the Thar Desert to shoot deer while on a break from filming. Apparently, Khan is also on trial in a separate case in Bombay for a traffic accident that killed a man in 2002. Three people were injured and one killed when Khan allegedly hit a group of people sleeping on a Mumbai sidewalk which triggered a storm of protests against him.

Unfortunately, things have never worked well for the superstar Salman Khan throughout his film career. He somehow ended up courting controversies- be it the roughing up of media, aggressive behaviour with girlfriends, rash driving, getting in to a tiff with Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan on film sets or be it hunting endangered animals.

Some facts. Salman Khan made headlines, when in1998 he shot down two black bucks, an endangered species, and an Indian Gazelle on a shooting spree in a protected area in the Rajasthan’s wilderness. Co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam, and Tabu who accompanied him were arrested along with him and then released the same day on interim bail.

Then in September 2002, Salman Khan was in the news again when he rammed his Toyota Land Cruiser into a bakery in Bandra, killing one man and injuring three others who were sleeping on the sidewalk. He was arrested and Khan’s bail plea was rejected for the fourth time in a row but later he succeeded in getting bail.

But that is not all. He was back in the limelight for assaulting Aishwarya Rai and harassing Vivek Oberoi, who was dating Aishwarya Rai after her break up with Salman Khan.

And more recently he got caught in a controversy when a recorded tape allegedly proved the actor’s links to the underworld. The Indian police questioned him for his suspected links with the Underworld.

According to reports in the media: “The conversation recorded in 2001 had Khan threatening his then girlfriend Rai to perform in an entertainment programme organized by fugitive gangster Abu Salem, warning her of what harm the underworld figures could cause if their wish was not conceded.”

However, Salman Khan denied the allegations. What is surprising is that despite all the controversies, his popularity among the masses seems to have gone unscathed.

Film actor Sanjay Dutt too scaled new heights in his career when he was released from jail following his arrest under an anti-terror law for his alleged involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Similarly, Fardeen Khan, John Abraham, Govinda and Saif Ali Khan also have had brushes with law, but that did not affect them or their celebrity status.

As Satish Kaushik's superhit Tere Naam in 2003 gave Salman a platform to rise like a phoenix after the controversial hit-and-run case.

Then came Ravi Chopra's blockbuster Baghban where Salman had a guest appearance. Though the film centered on Amitabh Bachchan, Salman was a big hit with fans for his goody-goody role.

In the following year, Salman's Mujhsey Shaadi Karogi did brisk business and in 2005, his films No Entry and Mainey Pyaar Kyun Kiya became box office hits.

The celeb circuit is quite disappointed with the way they are treated. “Fame comes with a price which we have to pay. Celebrities are targeted because of their status and a lot of hype is created when a celebrity is involved. Whereas a lot of criminals get away even with serious crimes like murder,” actor Saif Ali Khan told reporters. Apparently Salman Khan’s lawyer brought up Jessica Lal’s case as an example.

Countering this argument, Shobhaa De said: “Celebrities cannot take advantage of their status and be let off because of that. They too have to pay the price for doing something illegal.”

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