Gaurav Gupta is a young poet. His beautiful poems on social media are especially liked among the people. His manuscript has also been selected and awarded at the Mumbai Literature Festival in 2019. Then they were also published by Lit-O-Fest Ink (Mumbai). On which senior poet-critic Dr. Om Nischal said, “This poet is like an auspicious beginning for poetry. In a world surrounded by the confusion of love, young poet Gaurav Gupta seems to be giving a new meaning to it. This collection definitely gives the impression of love poems from outside, but from inside it is a collection of larger dimensions of life. Gaurav’s poems have preserved valuable life-summaries in their reticence.
Let us tell you that from time to time Gaurav appears in various newspapers and magazines; His poems have been published in Doaba, Vagarth and Kavita Vihaan, as well as in places like Dainik Bhaskar, Aha Zindagi. If you want to read his poems, then his poems, translations and blogs are also available on online platforms like Hindavi, Meraki.
Gaurav Gupta is a poet by heart and a freelance writer by profession. For some time, Gaurav was also associated with Vani Prakashan Group as a social media editor and has done translation work for many educational institutes. Presenting those unpublished poems of Gaurav Gupta which he has made a very beautiful effort to put into his words-
1)
Wait
I had the waiting available in multiple languages
That’s why in the restless days of summer said-
Look, the rainy season is about to come,
how beautiful it will be when the earth turns green
after a heavy rain
This mind will also turn green
Look, in this winter we will wander on the streets wearing woolen sweaters,
Coming to Delhi this winter,
I will take you to Fakirchand Bookstall;
Will roam on Janpath,
beautiful earrings are available here
i had visions of your laugh
which was the most beautiful translation of my waiting
I never had parting words
That’s why I kept quiet, after you left
Couldn’t hug, didn’t cry bitterly.
I go back to all those places again and again
remembering the days together
Kept adding sugar to coffee for a long time
sitting next to the walls of the coffee house
Unnecessary rounds of the ring road
Sitting on the last seat of the bus kept looking out of the windows for a long time
Pick Your Favorite Bougainvillea Scattered Flowers
put cigarette puffs
And wandered through the narrow streets of Old Delhi
i relived them all
And all those promises for the first time,
Again and again…
Those who were left, when you suddenly left.
passing through the metro checking line
look at the bag slung over my shoulder
One day the police asked – what is in this bag?
I smiled and said – wait!
He could not understand.
No one understands the language of waiting,
Except what he is doing is waiting;
fast losing hope
as one does, amidst the wind
extinguishing lamp with the cover of hands
try to save.
And so, I waited for you
In all the languages of the world.
2)
those sad boys
who left their city
Some friends who came to see off
who had a few pennies in their pockets
Who had some clothes in their box, bread for the journey
who had the whole house on his shoulder
who had many memories
And the fear of getting lost in an unknown city.
who do not know the language of the metropolis
who got hit in buses
Whose shoes kept getting dust
whose shirt had folds
in an unknown city
who wanted a shoulder
head to hold,
who wanted an ear
desperate to hear
who wanted a hand
wait for time
who never bought flowers for a woman
who have never been to expensive restaurants
Whom no one waited for in this city
who never wrote a love letter
whose phone never rang
who never told anyone about their health
Whose tears remain at the core of the eyes
cracks on the lips
drenched in the rain of despair
who smoked the cheapest cigarettes and drank the cheapest tea
After every expense, who felt their pockets again and again
Those who were disappointed, but did not commit suicide,
they miss home
father’s face, mother’s age, some old friends
they walked these streets
And lost forever in the crowd of metros with their average faces
Those sad boys.
3)
inability
Google tells the temperature of your city,
When will it rain and when will the sun shine
But can’t tell, today you got wet while returning from office
There is fever, medicines are at the bedside, there is no appetite and
I don’t worry
YouTube updates new songs of ‘Ali Sethi’
but can’t tell
You’re in a sad mood and at the moment you’re listening to Cohen
children flying kites on the front terrace
a flock of storks just flew over you
Instagram reveals the name of Manav Kaul’s next book
But I can’t tell on which lines you stayed for a long time, and you remembered me
You alone kept watching the moon in the sky late at night
Reminder of the phone reminds me, all the work I need
but can’t say i take care of myself
This world equipped with all the information seems so incapable and small.
When I ask them – how are you?
And they remain silent.
4)
second visit
what have you got
Do not tell
Tell! me, what have you lost
In this world,
how many times heart broken
how many times have you believed and been betrayed
tell me what color is the wound on your soul
tell me you tried suicide and were stopped
you tell me you were out of breath last night
because of a bad dream
You tell me about all the invisible violence your mind has righted
tell me how many times you tripped and fell
tell me you reached out and got no one
tell me everything you’ve got locked up in the dark cellar
And you always keep kneeling.
Meet me, don’t tell me how much you have gained by losing me.
If you meet, then tell me how much you have lost in the one who went away from me to get it.
all that music, and all that dancing
And, I’ll take everything out of my bag and put it in your palm that very moment
the one you handed me the first time we met
All your beautiful dreams
5)
lover
whom i loved
she’s got a better boyfriend than me
Says – she loves him!
I smile
I ask him – Do you still read poems?
She says while saving her eyes – No!
and song?
Don’t hum now, don’t have time!
and dreams?
Sleep less!
Flower?
Don’t like it anymore!
Rain?
Does not get wet, gets cold.
Moon?
I often forget to watch.
And me?
they don’t tell me anything
i don’t say anything to them
she knows my silence is long
they get up and leave
like last time
and i smile
like always.
6)
Suddenly
news of death comes suddenly
the city suddenly sinks
buildings suddenly collapse
suddenly a thorn pricks
Suddenly the fire spreads in the forest
all tragedies come suddenly
No happiness ever comes suddenly
like you never came
7)
in this life
in this life
many trips postponed
a lot of love left unfinished
Many tears were absorbed by the core of the eyes
Many names remained stuck in the throat, which could not be called.
And so in this passing life
lots of hiccups
Could never meet.
8)
I want
I want
go as far as you go
can you hear my last cry
my last time
Even if this doesn’t happen, it must be enough that
choose a simple address
stay there you
some mail reaches you wandering
for my news
choose your phone number something like
that it gets wrong number every time
at your own address
let you know about my death
someone or the other must be reaching you
no i don’t want that
you shed tears
or say ‘oops’
or hide your eyes in the core of the zenith
or run away, hide in the bathroom
No, I don’t want anyone around you to see you
suspiciously
ask you about your past
that you left long ago
i just want
you take a deep breath and
live assured that
Now somewhere
does not wait for you.
9)
Hope
even after a lot
everything doesn’t end
like a ruined house
on falling
wet soil remains
Where green plants, algae, mushrooms grow
New little creatures come to live
new life begins
When all the relationships ended
like the ruins
so find somewhere wet soil
in the back of my mind
Plants of possibility can grow there
very green
may love come to stay
and then
a life can begin
New-new bit
,
Tags: Hindi Literature, hindi poetry, hindi writer, Poem
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 24, 2023, 20:05 IST