Shaleen Singh
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Born on 28 July 1979 at Budaun(U.P.), India, Shaleen Kumar Singh did his doctorate on ‘Panorama of
Mahashweta’s Indo-English Verse- A Critical Evaluation.’ He is a poet, critic, reviewer and translator. He
has several research papers, articles, poems and reviews published in esteemed journals, magazines and news
papers in India and abroad, including Remarkings(Agra), Poet(Chennai), Poets International(Banglore),
Metverse Muse(Vishakhapattnam), Helicon Views(Amroha), The Green Lotus(Bhubneshwar), Bizz Buzz
(Mysore), Contemporary Vibes(Chandigarh), Free Xpression(Australia) Voice of Kolkata(Kolkata), Skylark
(Aligarh), Indo Asian Literature(New Delhi), Poetcrit(H.P.), Shine(Tamilnadu), Mandakini(Bareilly), The
Golden Vase(Bhubneshwar), Indian Book Chronicle(Jaipur), Replica(Cuttack) etc. His poems have appeared
in several National and International journals like Kritya, Muse India, Poetsindia, Literary India, Boloji, Lit.
org, Neopoets and several others. Lectured severally on A.I.R. Attended several Literary Seminars.
Translated the book Mahendra Bhatnagar Ke Geet in English under the title Lyric Lute. Edited collection of
English poems entitled Creation and Other Poems and Hindi poems entitled Dohe Tabib Ke. At present he is
editing the ezine Creative Saplings and a book of critical essays on Stephen Gill (Canada).
Mahashweta’s Indo-English Verse- A Critical Evaluation.’ He is a poet, critic, reviewer and translator. He
has several research papers, articles, poems and reviews published in esteemed journals, magazines and news
papers in India and abroad, including Remarkings(Agra), Poet(Chennai), Poets International(Banglore),
Metverse Muse(Vishakhapattnam), Helicon Views(Amroha), The Green Lotus(Bhubneshwar), Bizz Buzz
(Mysore), Contemporary Vibes(Chandigarh), Free Xpression(Australia) Voice of Kolkata(Kolkata), Skylark
(Aligarh), Indo Asian Literature(New Delhi), Poetcrit(H.P.), Shine(Tamilnadu), Mandakini(Bareilly), The
Golden Vase(Bhubneshwar), Indian Book Chronicle(Jaipur), Replica(Cuttack) etc. His poems have appeared
in several National and International journals like Kritya, Muse India, Poetsindia, Literary India, Boloji, Lit.
org, Neopoets and several others. Lectured severally on A.I.R. Attended several Literary Seminars.
Translated the book Mahendra Bhatnagar Ke Geet in English under the title Lyric Lute. Edited collection of
English poems entitled Creation and Other Poems and Hindi poems entitled Dohe Tabib Ke. At present he is
editing the ezine Creative Saplings and a book of critical essays on Stephen Gill (Canada).
INTERVIEW WITH SHALEEN SINGH
Sigauke: "How long / We will face / Your hate..." begins your poem "We, the people of India ." It goes on to make
reference to this person or force that has affected the lives of the people. At the end, the emotion in the poem has ridden a
higher crescendo of emotion, maybe anger. Can you give an idea of what prompted this poem, what you think your speaker
is talking about?
Shaleen: Actually the communal forces in India , in past few years, have created a chaos in the Nation and the references of Babri
Masjid and Godhra (wherein two major communities fought with each other resulting in the casualty of thousands of people) tends to
castigate the same. The speaker of the poem is the common human being who is bearing with the buffets of riots, fights and antipathy
and watching the trauma occurring on the Indian social platform and who in a tone of anger and disappointment questions these anti-
social forces and forbids to stop their naked dance. I microscopically watched the plight of the riot-ridden people and felt that I should
also react against them.
Sigauke: You wrote a dissertation on Mahashweta's Indo-English poetry. Ha your work on this poet contributed to the way
you produce poetry? Why did you choose to focus on Mahashweta?
Shaleen: Well, Mahashweta is a poet of Ancient Indian tradition and her poetry is steeped deep into the Vedas, the oldest document of
the world. Her collection Back to the Vedas is dedicated to the ancient Vedas in which she has advocated the teachings of the Vedas.
She sings in her collection:
Back to the Vedas
To see heaven on Earth
To see reign of love
Universal brotherhood and peace
During my studies in the Post graduate classes, I had a chance to glance the poetry of Mahashweta (an Indian English Poetess) entitled
Voice of Agony which I liked very much and determined to carry on research on her Poetry after my Post graduation. Before it nobody
has started any research work on her work so it prompted me to choose her poetry as the area of my research.
Sigauke: What's the state of poetry in India ?
Shaleen: In India , English Poetry before Independence was a ‘borrowed plume’ as Dr O. P. Bhatnagar said and he added that ‘From
syntax to sentiments everything was so imitative that It looked like a perfect alien bride.’ But the post Independence poetry has not only
grown in quantity but also in quality. A number of Poets like, Nissim Ezekiel, Keki N. Daruwala, V.K. Gokak, R. Parthsarthy, Krishna
Srinivas, Dom Mores, O.P. Bhatnagar, D.H. Kabadi, Pritish Nandy, Keshav Malik, H.S. Bhatia, V.S. Skanda Prasad, Syed Ammeruddin,
Baldev Mirza, I.K. Sharma, H.S. Bhatia, I.H. Rizvi, Prakash Joshi, R.N. Sinha, Suresh Chandra Diwedi, Niranjan Mohanty, P. Raja,
Narendra Pal Singh, Mahanand Sharma, Aju Mukhopadhyaya, G.K. Kottor, Tabish Khair and a numberless more have enriched this
glorious tradition of Poetry. Besides a number of Young Poets are writing and earning name and fame around the globe.
Now the poetry is breaking illusions with the stony realities, widening the circumference of consciousness and placing the spirituality in
its material and human perspectives. Intellectual, moral and ethical commitments are the releasing force in the making of images,
meanings and definition of an Indian. Here Poetry is developing the instincts for simplicity, clarity and in harmony with context and
form.
Sigauke: You are involved with several publishing projects, including the chief editorship of the e-zine Creative Saplings.
How have these projects contributed to the literature of India , or the world? Have many poets in India embraced World
Wide Web as an outlet for their creative works?
Shaleen: In fact, the chief aim of mine when I entered this arena of Poetry and criticism was to focus on the poets and those literati
who are still unpublished and those who are still away from the bluffs and Charm of name but they even publish their works through
their own resources and send their copies to their readers as complimentary. My ezine www.creativesaplings.com, without any motive
of profit of self, generates criticism on those poets and tries its utmost to establish their poetry among those few ‘established’ from
both points of View of Idea and Diction. In the next issue of the journal we will take up one poem of a less known poet and judge
his/her poem in the light of stylistics. Our stylistic critic Dr. Nar Deo Shrma will head this section and interpret the various vistas in the
poem in the light of Stylistics.
Sigauke: You are a translator as well. Is the translation process one of the answers to quetions pertaining our global inter-
relatedness? As a translator, how much do you think you add to or subtract from the original work?
Shaleen: Yeah, I have translated various global poets like Dr. Kazuyosi Ikeda ( Japan ), Niki Stella ( Greece ), Jack Baum ( Canada ),
Peter F. Pike ( Australia ), Rosemary Wilkinson ( USA ), Adolf P. Schkelov ( Russia ), G. Mend Ooyo( Mongolia ) and Philip Higson (
U.K. ) into Hindi. I believe that translation can bridge the gap between man and man besides it makes us aware of the culture around
and beyond us but it has certain limitations viz. linguistic, cultural, semantics or lexical which a translator has to face in transmitting the
data from the source language to target language but despite all such trivialities, a translator should keep his ball rolling. Recently I have
translated the collection of Mahendra Bhatnagar entitled Lyric Lute which is gaining ground in the Nation and beyond.
Sigauke: What else would like the Munyori readers and writers to know about you?
Shaleen: I was born in Budaun, a tiny town of U.P. ( India ). I have passed a life of strain, anxities, and anguish; perhaps my destiny
did not let me do anything peacefully. I suffered a lot to compromise with critical situations and it made me aware of the ironies of life.
A Hindi poet has rightly said: Viyogi hoga Pehla Kavi / Aah se upja hoga Gyan (Which means ‘the first poet of the earth must be woe-
begone and the knowledge must have sprung out of his sobs).
When I was going to initiate my research work on Mahashweta, I had to face hard situations and to carry on my life and research
work as my father (Dr Vinai Kumar Singh, Reader and Head, Dept of English) left to the heavenly abode. He was a gentleman to the
backbone as well a literary personage. I wrote some 100 three lines poems in his memory within 13 days which are now going to get
published entitled Proprietary Pains. And now I am in the quest of Young poets around the globe who have mettle but no recognition. I
have decided to publish as well as work on the new poets especially. I hope God will certainly bless and guide me.
Sigauke: "How long / We will face / Your hate..." begins your poem "We, the people of India ." It goes on to make
reference to this person or force that has affected the lives of the people. At the end, the emotion in the poem has ridden a
higher crescendo of emotion, maybe anger. Can you give an idea of what prompted this poem, what you think your speaker
is talking about?
Shaleen: Actually the communal forces in India , in past few years, have created a chaos in the Nation and the references of Babri
Masjid and Godhra (wherein two major communities fought with each other resulting in the casualty of thousands of people) tends to
castigate the same. The speaker of the poem is the common human being who is bearing with the buffets of riots, fights and antipathy
and watching the trauma occurring on the Indian social platform and who in a tone of anger and disappointment questions these anti-
social forces and forbids to stop their naked dance. I microscopically watched the plight of the riot-ridden people and felt that I should
also react against them.
Sigauke: You wrote a dissertation on Mahashweta's Indo-English poetry. Ha your work on this poet contributed to the way
you produce poetry? Why did you choose to focus on Mahashweta?
Shaleen: Well, Mahashweta is a poet of Ancient Indian tradition and her poetry is steeped deep into the Vedas, the oldest document of
the world. Her collection Back to the Vedas is dedicated to the ancient Vedas in which she has advocated the teachings of the Vedas.
She sings in her collection:
Back to the Vedas
To see heaven on Earth
To see reign of love
Universal brotherhood and peace
During my studies in the Post graduate classes, I had a chance to glance the poetry of Mahashweta (an Indian English Poetess) entitled
Voice of Agony which I liked very much and determined to carry on research on her Poetry after my Post graduation. Before it nobody
has started any research work on her work so it prompted me to choose her poetry as the area of my research.
Sigauke: What's the state of poetry in India ?
Shaleen: In India , English Poetry before Independence was a ‘borrowed plume’ as Dr O. P. Bhatnagar said and he added that ‘From
syntax to sentiments everything was so imitative that It looked like a perfect alien bride.’ But the post Independence poetry has not only
grown in quantity but also in quality. A number of Poets like, Nissim Ezekiel, Keki N. Daruwala, V.K. Gokak, R. Parthsarthy, Krishna
Srinivas, Dom Mores, O.P. Bhatnagar, D.H. Kabadi, Pritish Nandy, Keshav Malik, H.S. Bhatia, V.S. Skanda Prasad, Syed Ammeruddin,
Baldev Mirza, I.K. Sharma, H.S. Bhatia, I.H. Rizvi, Prakash Joshi, R.N. Sinha, Suresh Chandra Diwedi, Niranjan Mohanty, P. Raja,
Narendra Pal Singh, Mahanand Sharma, Aju Mukhopadhyaya, G.K. Kottor, Tabish Khair and a numberless more have enriched this
glorious tradition of Poetry. Besides a number of Young Poets are writing and earning name and fame around the globe.
Now the poetry is breaking illusions with the stony realities, widening the circumference of consciousness and placing the spirituality in
its material and human perspectives. Intellectual, moral and ethical commitments are the releasing force in the making of images,
meanings and definition of an Indian. Here Poetry is developing the instincts for simplicity, clarity and in harmony with context and
form.
Sigauke: You are involved with several publishing projects, including the chief editorship of the e-zine Creative Saplings.
How have these projects contributed to the literature of India , or the world? Have many poets in India embraced World
Wide Web as an outlet for their creative works?
Shaleen: In fact, the chief aim of mine when I entered this arena of Poetry and criticism was to focus on the poets and those literati
who are still unpublished and those who are still away from the bluffs and Charm of name but they even publish their works through
their own resources and send their copies to their readers as complimentary. My ezine www.creativesaplings.com, without any motive
of profit of self, generates criticism on those poets and tries its utmost to establish their poetry among those few ‘established’ from
both points of View of Idea and Diction. In the next issue of the journal we will take up one poem of a less known poet and judge
his/her poem in the light of stylistics. Our stylistic critic Dr. Nar Deo Shrma will head this section and interpret the various vistas in the
poem in the light of Stylistics.
Sigauke: You are a translator as well. Is the translation process one of the answers to quetions pertaining our global inter-
relatedness? As a translator, how much do you think you add to or subtract from the original work?
Shaleen: Yeah, I have translated various global poets like Dr. Kazuyosi Ikeda ( Japan ), Niki Stella ( Greece ), Jack Baum ( Canada ),
Peter F. Pike ( Australia ), Rosemary Wilkinson ( USA ), Adolf P. Schkelov ( Russia ), G. Mend Ooyo( Mongolia ) and Philip Higson (
U.K. ) into Hindi. I believe that translation can bridge the gap between man and man besides it makes us aware of the culture around
and beyond us but it has certain limitations viz. linguistic, cultural, semantics or lexical which a translator has to face in transmitting the
data from the source language to target language but despite all such trivialities, a translator should keep his ball rolling. Recently I have
translated the collection of Mahendra Bhatnagar entitled Lyric Lute which is gaining ground in the Nation and beyond.
Sigauke: What else would like the Munyori readers and writers to know about you?
Shaleen: I was born in Budaun, a tiny town of U.P. ( India ). I have passed a life of strain, anxities, and anguish; perhaps my destiny
did not let me do anything peacefully. I suffered a lot to compromise with critical situations and it made me aware of the ironies of life.
A Hindi poet has rightly said: Viyogi hoga Pehla Kavi / Aah se upja hoga Gyan (Which means ‘the first poet of the earth must be woe-
begone and the knowledge must have sprung out of his sobs).
When I was going to initiate my research work on Mahashweta, I had to face hard situations and to carry on my life and research
work as my father (Dr Vinai Kumar Singh, Reader and Head, Dept of English) left to the heavenly abode. He was a gentleman to the
backbone as well a literary personage. I wrote some 100 three lines poems in his memory within 13 days which are now going to get
published entitled Proprietary Pains. And now I am in the quest of Young poets around the globe who have mettle but no recognition. I
have decided to publish as well as work on the new poets especially. I hope God will certainly bless and guide me.
We, the People of India
--Shaleen Singh
How long
We will face
Your hate, brazen looks
And unequivocal voices
After all,
We too sailed with you
Though the turmoil
Of pain and perforation
After all
We too demanded
Love in Your eyes and
Faith in your heart
Feeling of nativeness
In our own motherland
In Babrimasjid
You tried to kill our faith-God
In Godhra
You massacred
The crumbs of our sweet memories
And now You!
Aspire for more!
--Shaleen Singh
How long
We will face
Your hate, brazen looks
And unequivocal voices
After all,
We too sailed with you
Though the turmoil
Of pain and perforation
After all
We too demanded
Love in Your eyes and
Faith in your heart
Feeling of nativeness
In our own motherland
In Babrimasjid
You tried to kill our faith-God
In Godhra
You massacred
The crumbs of our sweet memories
And now You!
Aspire for more!
How Can We?
--Shaleen Singh
Coldness……..
On the cracked lips
Desolation…….
Peeping through the eyes
Thousands of stories and
Millions of thoughts
Running fast
Into all blind alley of life
On the utmost shore
We will meet again
And I’ll ask you,
How did you pass your journey?
I know what you’ll say
With fake smile on your lips and
I know too—
I have passed my conviction
With no ache or cry
You too!!
How can we get ashamed
Before each other?
--Shaleen Singh
Coldness……..
On the cracked lips
Desolation…….
Peeping through the eyes
Thousands of stories and
Millions of thoughts
Running fast
Into all blind alley of life
On the utmost shore
We will meet again
And I’ll ask you,
How did you pass your journey?
I know what you’ll say
With fake smile on your lips and
I know too—
I have passed my conviction
With no ache or cry
You too!!
How can we get ashamed
Before each other?
| Peace --Shaleen Singh Peace The Eternity Peace Before life Peace After Life Peace Hidden here also Will it burst From noise Have peace And perceive You will receive The eternity of Peace |