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A review by sloatsj
Jejuri by Arun Kolatkar
4.0
This one jumped out at me from the shelf of an overloaded used book store. It wouldn’t have, except for the fact it was published by NYRB, a pretty good pedigree, and its striking cover. I’d never heard of Arun Kolatkar otherwise, but since NYRB doesn’t do much poetry (they do some), I figured this would be worth checking out. I dipped in first, reading a few poems, and bought the book.
"Jejuri" is a poem sequence, based on a trip the poet took with his brother and a friend or two to the town of Jejuri, a pilgrimage site in India. Kolatkar isn’t a religious man particularly; he’s there more as a kind of why-not tourist, and the poems juxtapose the supposedly holy with the profane in a plainspoken way. The poems are approachable; the voice is straightforward and curious. There is a good dose of humor. Most of the poems are on the short side. The longest one is three pages long, and it’s a very good one (“Ajamil and the Tigers”).
I found the book enjoyable and different and accessible. My relative ignorance about Indian gods and mythology didn’t get in the way, and the poems didn’t make a lot of presumptions on that. There are notes in the back to (superficially) identify the gods and such, which was helpful. One of my favourite poems from the book is “Chaitanya”* -
come off it
said chaitanya to a stone
in stone language
wipe that red paint off your face
i don’t think it suits you
i mean what’s wrong
with just being a plain stone
i’ll still bring you flowers
you like the flowers of zendu
don’t you
i like them too
(*Actually there are two poems in the book titled "Chaitanya." Chaitanya was a guru in the 15th century who emphasized personal devotion to the god Krishna, and de-emphasized rites, worship and caste purity. His teachings, as far as I understand, are the basis of the Hare Krishna movement.)
"Jejuri" is a poem sequence, based on a trip the poet took with his brother and a friend or two to the town of Jejuri, a pilgrimage site in India. Kolatkar isn’t a religious man particularly; he’s there more as a kind of why-not tourist, and the poems juxtapose the supposedly holy with the profane in a plainspoken way. The poems are approachable; the voice is straightforward and curious. There is a good dose of humor. Most of the poems are on the short side. The longest one is three pages long, and it’s a very good one (“Ajamil and the Tigers”).
I found the book enjoyable and different and accessible. My relative ignorance about Indian gods and mythology didn’t get in the way, and the poems didn’t make a lot of presumptions on that. There are notes in the back to (superficially) identify the gods and such, which was helpful. One of my favourite poems from the book is “Chaitanya”* -
come off it
said chaitanya to a stone
in stone language
wipe that red paint off your face
i don’t think it suits you
i mean what’s wrong
with just being a plain stone
i’ll still bring you flowers
you like the flowers of zendu
don’t you
i like them too
(*Actually there are two poems in the book titled "Chaitanya." Chaitanya was a guru in the 15th century who emphasized personal devotion to the god Krishna, and de-emphasized rites, worship and caste purity. His teachings, as far as I understand, are the basis of the Hare Krishna movement.)