When Nissim Ezekiel criticised Naipaul for his drain inspector-like angle to India

It’s unattainable to sum up the lifetime of Nissim Ezekiel in just some phrases. His work, easy but profound, mirrors the world he inhabited. His poetry, wealthy with color and imagery, displays his capacity to seize the complexities of life. Ezekiel was greater than only a poet; he was a cherished determine in each literary circles and actual life. A job mannequin for rising poets, his affect continues to resonate, a literary lighthouse whose mild endures lengthy after the ink from his pen has dried.

Let me return to someday within the early Nineteen Eighties, to a scene set in Hyderabad, a tutorial hub teeming with students, younger and previous, earnestly discussing the varied nuances of literature, vital principle, cultural research, and different matters typically related to educational dialogue. The times are full of educational exercise, the evenings witness relaxed networking, open-air dinners below tall timber swaying within the tropical breeze, conversational banter mingling with educational anecdotes, some citation from a witty litterateur, an occasional track with make-shift drumming on dinner plates, a stray joke adopted by full-throated laughter, and so forth.

In a single nook is a bunch of younger upcoming students crowding round a barely stooping, bespectacled frail man sporting a purple shirt and blue denims. He has an animated look, his eyes glowing by his glasses as he makes some extent, apparently explaining one thing to the keen bunch of listeners who grasp on to each phrase he utters. Clearly, there’s a critical dialogue happening.

I flip and ask my host: “Who’s that man who seems like a poet?”

“You imply Nissim Ezekiel?” pat comes the reply. “Let me introduce you to him.”

These have been my salad days within the instructing occupation. I used to be aware of the title and with a few of his work, however that was my first alternative to see him in individual.

A few years later, when OUP printed the Collected Poems of Nissim Ezekiel, I used to be requested to assessment it for a newspaper. It felt like serendipity — a gold mine. At that time, I used to be a younger, enthusiastic trainer and researcher, about to embark on a Postdoc. Life was stuffed with hope and prospects. Reviewing this assortment, particularly after assembly the poet, was the icing on the cake. I eagerly wrote a assessment, praising Ezekiel as a job mannequin and mentor whose poetry each scholar of Indian English literature ought to learn.

The editor was happy with the assessment, and my colleagues, who have been aware of Nissim Ezekiel’s work, appreciated it. Nevertheless, some didn’t. One significantly prolific poet, who additionally wrote in English, was stung by the green-eyed monster. He couldn’t perceive why one other poet had obtained reward and recognition whereas he, too, waited within the wings for his flip. Consumed by bitterness, he devised a plan.

In all equity, this different poet had a lot in frequent with Ezekiel — he too was a trainer, wrote in English, and had a fan following, largely his college students. Convincing them that injustice had been performed, that one other poet had been unfairly praised, he urged them to jot down letters to the editor, attacking the assessment, the reviewer, and even the editor for assigning her the duty.

The letters flooded the assessment columns assaulting the poet, the poetry, and the reward it had obtained. This reviewer, caught within the crossfire, obtained her share of the brickbats, too, and went underground, searching for crawl areas to cover in. In the meantime, the editor delighted within the controversy, printed the letters week after week for 3 months. Each Sunday, the columns have been crammed with assaults till, finally, the storm subsided. Some readers despatched counter-reactions, questioning the legitimacy of the letters and their authors, restoring peace.

What did I do then? I merely gathered all of the hate mail and despatched it to Nissim Ezekiel, offering him with the background (not so casually, as he may say). In response, I obtained a few postcards from him — most likely nonetheless someplace in my educational memorabilia. He acknowledged the state of affairs, providing wise recommendation to miss the assaults and ignore them. There was additionally an off-the-cuff trade about poetry, poets, and the inevitable egos that include each.

One other incident that’s related here’s a scrap with none aside from the formidable V S Naipaul in a face-to-face encounter, after I talked about (oh, so innocently) what Ezekiel had stated concerning the Indo-Trinidadian coming to India like a drain inspector, together with his handkerchief to his nostril, criticising something and every thing that he noticed within the nation of his delivery. All hell broke unfastened. Did Sir Vidiya, the Nobel Laureate hit the roof then? He certain did, and refused to proceed the interview being performed by a “foolish, silly individual” like me. Once more, I despatched a graphic account of the encounter to Nissim Ezekiel and I’m certain his eyes will need to have lit up in amusement.

That is my small private reference to Nissim Ezekiel, a poet we, as academics of literature in English, have learn, appreciated, and taught for many years. Ezekiel is now a legend in Indian Writing in English. In actual fact, whereas compiling The Routledge Encyclopedia of Indian Writing in English (2024), I discovered that almost each poet within the assortment acknowledges his affect. As a poet, trainer, and mentor, Ezekiel set a typical that embraced native poetry, drawing inspiration from the colourful life round him — pidgin English, fishermen, and extra. In his phrases, “A mix of reminiscence, commentary, and creativeness lastly make a poem what it’s,” encapsulating the guts of his poetic imaginative and prescient.

The author is former Professor and Head of the Division of English, Panjab College, Chandigarh, and a former Chairperson of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi