| N |
avtej Bharti’s 290-page poetry collection Mitti, written in the Shahmukhi script, was published some time ago but has remained largely overlooked. This article is an attempt to introduce him as one of the most vital, post-modern, voices in contemporary Punjabi poetry.
For the past five decades, Bharti has lived in London, Ontario, Canada, with his wife, Surinder Kaur Chahal, a poet. Born in 1938 in the village of Rode, tehsil Moga (then part of Ferozepur, Indian Punjab), Bharti began his early education as a giani but soon transitioned to formal schooling, joining his younger brother, Ajmer Rode, also a renowned poet.
As a young man, he aspired to study under Professor Pritam Singh, a dream he fulfilled for a few years. In 1968, the year he published his first poetry collection, Simbal Day Phul, he migrated to Canada for higher studies, later earning a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Victoria.
Over the past fifty years, Bharti has authored several poetry collections. His second major work, Leela (1999), co-written with Ajmer Rode, is considered a landmark in Punjabi literature, a 1,053-page epic that redefined the boundaries of modern Punjabi poetry. His third book, Lali (2012), centres on a folk character rooted in oral tradition. While drawn from real life, it is a deeply imaginative and poetic re-creation. His most recent collection, Othon Teek, cements his standing as a poet of remarkable clarity and originality. Here, Bharti turns away from grand ideals to explore the beauty of the everyday. The titles of some poems speak for themselves: Aloo Walay Parathay, Mutter Kadi and Aaj Apan TV Vaykhan Gay.
Bharti’s poetry spans six decades; decades marked by profound upheaval and transformation. When he left the Punjab, the Naxalite movement had begun to stir revolutionary thought across India. The deaths of Che Guevara in 1969 and the Vietnam War, culminating in the US defeat in the 1970s, helped shape global political consciousness. Closer to home, revolutionary poetry by Lal Singh Dil, Sant Ram Udaasi and Pash was erupting across East Punjab. The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 symbolised the end of an ideological era.
Curiously, none of this turbulence explicitly enters Bharti’s poetry. His work is not political in the traditional sense; it is poetry of the heart and soul. It celebrates life itself, affirming that simply being alive is a miracle worth singing about.
[Inside and outside, a fair
Life feels beautiful/ All around,/ Above and below/ Flows the intoxication of being]
This kind of poetry is easier to embrace today, now that the ideological fervour of the Left has quietened. Is Bharti’s poetry a form of quiet resistance to heavily ideological writing? The answer seems to be yes. Writing under the influence of ideology can be easier, as it offers a ready-made structure. Carving one’s own path, as Bharti does, is far more demanding.
Living through revolutionary times, Bharti chose to write about the most ordinary and deeply human moments of life:[The Embrace of the Inevitable
People doing small, simple things—/ I find them beautiful./ Buying fruit and vegetables,/ Asking the prices,/ Carefully picking, placing them in their bags./ Holding a child’s finger,/ Buying toys,/ Becoming children themselves/ In markets and shops—/ They laugh out loud, talk cheerfully./ They argue, they clash,/ They ask after each other’s joys and sorrows./ They shake hands.]
Poetry is often regarded as something grand and mystical, reserved for scholars and high-minded readers. But true poetry is rooted in everyday life. Our own folk and classical traditions are rich with verse that speaks to the joys and sorrows of ordinary people.
As poet Mazhar Tirmazi notes in his preface:
“Unlike idealist poets, Navtej does not raise the banner of humanity and human suffering to shout slogans of rebellion and revolution, he touches tragedy with a deeply lyrical grace.”
Most of Bharti’s poems are short, though he occasionally ventures into longer forms. His subjects range from the changing seasons to the most commonplace events. Despite having lived in Canada for most of his life, only a handful of his poems directly reflect the Western world. His true passion, however, lies in language itself, a fascination with words that is unmatched:
[The Glow of Words
I do not weave poems/ Upon words of faith and goodness/ I only brush off the ash./ In their own glow,/ They blaze.]
There’s a subtle philosophical current flowing through his lines. Like our great Sufi poets, Bharti often writes in a female voice:
[The Age of Madness
When it was the age/ To be mad in love, she kept hesitating./ And for the rest of her life,/ She kept regretting it.]
Navtej Bharti is a welcome and necessary presence in contemporary Punjabi poetry. Thanks are due to Afzal Sahir and Abdul Hafeez for publishing this important work, and to Diep Saeeda for making the book accessible to readers.
Mitti
Author: Navtej Bharti
Publisher: Sulaikh
Bookmakers
Pages: 296
Price: Rs 1,000
The reviewer is aLahore-based Punjabi poet, academic and short story writer.He was a Dhahan Prizefinalist in 2014 and 2020