Imtiaz Dharker’s poems question the absurdity of war and the divisions people make
Photo: V.V. Krishnan
Poetry of hope Imtiaz Dharker, author of “The Terrorist at my Table”
Imtiaz Dharker’s collection of poems “The Terrorist at my Table”, published by Penguin, is poetry of today’s age. Alienation and a search for home are often the leitmotifs in modern literature. But Dharker uses these confused
cultures as a premise for further exploration. “Being in between, what are we doing with that space?” is the question she raises.
Divided into three parts, the book is essentially about “How to reclaim the territory that has been taken away by extremism.” The poet explains the title, “The book is not about terrorism. It is more about how to deal with the constant doubt, suspicion. It is about our attitude to the stranger outside and within ourselves.”
New myths
It is poetry of today because of the realisation of new myths. With a Scottish lilt to her tone, she says, “Previously, myths were created in the Roman Empire or Europe. But the new myths are now created on the streets of Mumbai and Delhi. The visuals of literature are shifting to this end of the world.”
She explains, “Let them come to us on our own terms.”
An artist, poet and video filmmaker, Dharker has solo exhibitions and half a dozen poetry books already to her name. Made of three cultures, she revels in belonging nowhere and thus belonging everywhere.
She elaborates, “I was brought up in Glasgow. My mother is from Lahore. The children I met were from Glasgow. The sisters-in-law were from Punjabi villages. When I went to school I met Jewish, Protestant, Catholic students. It’s like they say, the girl from Edinburgh probably had the hardest time!”
The poems are verse pared down to the bone, devoid of flourishes. They are accompanied by telling pen and ink sketches. Dharker exploits the roughness of handmade paper. The drawings create figures from thumbprint patterns. She explains this technique helps raise questions on identity. But she asserts that the paintings are free-standing.
Some poems question the absurdity of war, the randomness of laws, the divisions we make. Yet, Dharker insists the book is not bleak. The book departs from despair as it finds hope in “daily miracles”, in the world as a neighbourhood and in the belief in Paradise or Andalus.
Dharker is also the founder of Solo, a company for the production, scripting and direction of video films. In over 20 years, she has made movies on various development issues, for different government and non-government organisations. In the Eighties, she started with slides and tapes; today she proudly asserts that the best studios and technicians are found in Mumbai. She recently made a movie on Lifeline Express, a hospital train.
NANDINI NAIR
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