Article on poetry
Ecology as a Mode: The Poetry of D.C. Chambial and Kulbhushan Kushal
Indian English literature, particularly fiction, has received unprecedented acclaim all over the world in recent times. There have been a number of writers who have won prestigious literary awards like the Booker and even the Nobel Prize for their fictional writings. At home also, Indian-English fiction has gained enviable popularity, prestige and critical attention. On the other hand, Indian English poetry has suffered neglect despite valuable contributions being made by Indian English poets. It can be ascertained from the number of critical studies and academic research in fiction and poetry. The Indian English literary scene also points out an interesting fact about the attitude of critics and the writers involved in the evaluation and writing of fiction and poetry. Whereas the established writers of fiction and the critics allow much space for the blossoming of new writers, the emerging poetic voices seem to struggle against the aura of the established earlier poets that tends to smother their growth. The fiction writers are appreciated and eulogized for experimentation in themes and techniques that mark their difference from the earlier writers. On the other hand, the poets are usually expected to follow the standards set by the earlier poets. In spite of such attitudinal compulsions there are poets who concentrate on contemporary issues in their own way. Their poetry marks a discernable shift from earlier romantic, religious, moral and purely aesthetic concerns to the issues that find greater relevance in the present times in philosophical and experiential terms.