Vidya Venkatramani interviews poet and editor Pravat Kumar Padhy, part 2
Q2.You have had a distinguished career as a geologist with ONGC. You have done considerable work on studying the surface of Mars. What parallels and dichotomies can you draw between the haiku world and geology? How did you manage your career and literary pursuits so well?
A2. I opted by chance for the professional career in geology. I stood Second in the Primary Examination, Odisha Board and got admission to the prestigious Sainik School, Bhubaneswar. But I preferred to continue in the general line of education. Later I got an offer from the prestigious institution of engineering, but destiny perhaps wishes me to unfold the mystic of nature. My elder brother advised me to choose my Major as Geology in my Undergraduate. I was not aware of the Geology discipline. Prof. Panda of the Geology Department, Khallikote College, Odisha, told me to attend one or two sessions in Geology and if found it interesting I could join. In the very first class, he narrated about the river, hills and other geological landscapes. I was totally attracted to the subject and finally opted for Geology.
The fascinating science led me to accomplish top rank in the University and I got admission calls from IITs and other institutes before I finally took admission at IIT (ISM)-Dhanbad. I have had the occasion to do the certification of Executive Education Programme on “Advanced Management” from IIM-Bangalore. As a student, I contributed the cost-effective Opencast Mining through a an advanced Statistical Model which was highly appreciated by the Chairman, Geological Congress Convention at IIT Bombay. I opted to do my doctoral research at IIT-Dhanbad on The Drainage Basin Analysis and River Dynamics, a topic very close to my predilection: river, sea and beautiful geological landscapes.
I joined Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in 1980. It has been a great honour to share knowledge as an Invited Speaker for the Graduate Trainees, UGC, Geological Survey of India, various Technical Forums and research scholars of various institutes including IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bhubaneswar. I have had the opportunity to give a presentation to the Professors of institutions of repute including from IIT on ‘Petroleum Geology” and the content duly appreciated by PetroFed, GoI, has been widely acclaimed on Google site.
In my early professional career, I humbly proposed the concept of Shale Oil and Gas exploration, the scope for “Ancient Hydrocarbon Exploration” (from Proterozoic age) and exploration of syn-rift sediments of older geological age in Krishna-Godavari offshore basin in India. I was invited to AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, 1997 in Vienna and UNO sponsored the 7th UNITAR International Conference on Heavy Crude and Tar Sands, 1998, Beijing for technical paper presentations.
My scientific work has earned special mention in “The Biomarker Guide: Biomarkers and Isotopes in Petroleum Systems and Earth History’, Cambridge University Press, 2005, “World Shale Gas Resources: An Initial Assessment of 14 Regions outside the United State, EIA Report, USA, 2011 and Shale Gas Exploration etc. Technical contribution have been widely referred in the prestigious international journals, Bibliography & Index of Geology, American Geological Institute, Geological Survey of America, SPWLA, US Department of the Interior US Geological Survey, Bibliography of Well Log Application, Indian National Science Academy and others. Many of my published papers are referred in books and have been widely cited by research scholars at MIT USA, Melbourne University, Australia, Waterloo University, Ontario, Canada, Texas A&M University, 2014 and IITs. The Honourable Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, during his visit in 2016 to ONGC, Bhubaneswar, had recorded his deep appreciation for my research work.
I feel my professional career as metaphor of the extended nature: outer and deep down below the Earth. The love and passion for nature perhaps guide me postulating creative scientific and innovative ideas in Oil and Gas exploration. I felt the wave of pleasure and joy in my professional career. I respect the organizational culture and ethics and consider office life as an extension home to collectively do the best for the nation. Life is a river ……. it flows through hills and valleys for its ultimate unification and harmonisation.
The geologic parlance is blended with beauty and serenity of the natural process through time. It enlightens a total different dimension of understanding the universe, the evolution of life in the domain of space and time. Probably the divine love for nature might have influenced me to a great extent in my literary and professional career. Once I delivered a lecture on the relationship between art and science: “Arts and Science dwell together. The beauty of a flower is a divine art, the colour is the physics, the aroma is its chemistry.”
Jenny Ward Angyal, Tanka Editor, Under the Basho writes to me on 16.6.2020, “……I believe science and poetry have more in common than many people might think. Close observation, for one thing! And I think science can be the inspiration for poetry, as well. Thanks you for telling me about your interesting projects concerning science & haiku. I believe you are correct: the divine is expressed through physics & chemistry!”
Prof. Marcia Bjornerud of Lawrence University, USA has aptly observed in her masterpiece Geology book, Timefulness, “ …Young rocks communicate in plain prose, which makes them easy to read….. the oldest rocks tend to be more allusive, even cryptic, speaking in metamorphic metaphor. With patience and close listening, however, they can be understood, and they generally have more profound truths to share about endurance and resilience….”
Indeed I start talking to rocks as the living entities in a process-language through the stretched geological time plane and feel fullness and tranquility of this beautiful universe!
As a student, I was impressed by the guest lecture given by Prof. S Bhattacharya, an alumnus of IIT(ISM) and scientist from NASA. He was doing pioneer research on Lunar surface mapping. I read more about Lunar Geology out of sheer interest during my stay in IIT in late 1970s.
As a Geologist, I am fascinated to know about astronomy and the related science. I guided my daughter, Smita, who was shortlisted as ‘Student Scientist’for NASA’s the Red Rover Goes to Mars Program in 2000. I guided her to work on the possibility of Gas hydrate deposits and the envisaged biological phenomenon on Mars etc. I am glad that recently research work has been focused in this direction. I compared the early geology of Earth and Mars and suggested the possible generation oil and gas in the early Mars. The paper has been accepted for publication in USA.
Some of my haiku epitomize the science of space and time to fulfill the dream of human aspiration.
beyond skyline–
the bird wings towards
a new sunrise
Maven Going to Mars, NASA 2013
painting contest
the child puts a drop of water
on the Mars surface
Poetry Corner, CB.net 29.8.2018
I wish to tell about the excerpt of my letter, dated 28 April 2009, to Ramachandra Guha, Padma Bhushan awardee, Historian about science and literature.
“The mystic of art and literature delightfully reveals the kaleidoscope of science through colorful flair of human aspiration. It amalgamates spiritual romanticism and intellectual cadence of human beings in its perennial journey along the corridor of nature’s panorama of blissful beauty.
Poetically we can interpret science and, conventionally it fathoms a lot of reasoning. …..The modern science, with all possibility, is deemed to revolutionize into platform of reality. When we see a flower or any natural thing, we sublimate poetically the beauty embedded in it. We celebrate it as art. The science unveils these in the form of chemistry of colour and physics of light. The journey of literature rendezvous with social culture and creative scientific milieu.”
Geology deals with the science of the Earth. It is closely related to nature. The geological science embodies the process-response analysis in space and time. The geological science deals with the evolution of life, distribution of all kinds of mineral resources from talc to diamond including coal and fossil fuel embedded within rock strata.
The history of rock strata, interrelationship, structural manifestation are analogous to the beauty of juxtaposition of haiku. The break, non-deposition and erosion in rock history (geologically called, ‘unconformity’) is like pause (kireji) in haiku. The correlation of the geological history of the Earth closely resembles sublime relation of fragment and phrase of haiku. In geological contained space (ma), we discover a shift in rock history. The time and space concept of Geology broadly corroborate the concept of vertical and horizontal axes of haiku. We enjoy the beauty of lightness (karumi), the science of creativeness (zoko) and depth of hidden knowledge of mystery (yugen) in the geological evolution. There has been a beautiful assimilation of Geology and Poetry indeed!
I use to get poetic inspiration in the form of images while walking down the street, strolling in the garden, silently relaxing and viewing around, watching TV, reading articles, sitting in the conference room and listening to music. Many a time, in my formative literary career, I used to wake up in the midnight to scribble my thoughts and poetic lines! Quite often, while in flight, I spend time penning haiku on the boarding pass, small papers and on the corner of a newspaper. I still remember on a couple of occasions, I jotted down the words even on a paper napkin and on my palm! I recollect a haiku that I had written, amongst many others, while in the flight. The following is one of my favourites, published in Shamrock, No. 27, 2014:
cotton flowers–
the sky blooming with
cloud-art
Q3.You have recently brought out a new genre- ‘Hainka’ – a combination of haiku and tanka. Tell us more about this form and how it was received by the haiku world.
A3. For a long time, precisely since March 2016, I have been thinking about the new concept of writing a combination of ‘haiku and tanka’ (hainka) either by the poet himself or in collaboration. The linking and repetition of the ‘fragment’ of the haiku as the ‘pivot line’ of the following tanka and its literary relevance have been conceived in the evolvement of this new genre, hainka.
It is poetry that encompasses all: the living and non-living beings, the most intelligent species: human beings, and the perennial flow of the consciousness of the colorful nature. The essence of poetry nestles in the diligent fragrance of the flower, simplicity of flow of the river, the gentle spread of leaves, the calmness of the ocean, and the embellishment of soothing shadow. The poetic ecstasies and journey of human life are parallel and perennial, beyond space and time. Like a flower, poetry sprinkles the hidden fragrance to fulfill the purpose of fostering peace and fraternity with the art of expression, perfection, and purity.
The seventeen-syllable haiku is the shortest form of poetry, and the thirty-one syllable tanka is probably the second shortest format of verse. Jane Reichhold discussed the fragment and phrase theory of haiku. It comprises two images or thoughts in the form of ‘fragment’ (Line 1) and ‘phrase’ (Lines 2 and 3) and they juxtapose each other either as association or contrast. Renowned tanka poet, Sanford Goldstein opines 3/2 arrangements, seen in the traditional tanka, is the best way to compose. In tanka, the ‘pivot line’ (kakekatoba) acts as a link line or common phrase in Line 3 with the lines 1 and 2 as well as with the lines 4 and 5, and juxtaposes both the images in a broader sense.
Hainka comprises of a haiku followed by a tanka. It is composed in such a way that the ‘fragment’ of the haiku will be the ‘pivot line’ (kakekatoba) of the following tanka. Interestingly, Amelia Fieldman, in her book, Short Songs, refers tanka as ‘intentionally fragmentary…’ Overall the hainka needs to portray a broader manifestation of coherency of the images keeping in view the aspect of ‘link and shift’ within the framework of the combined poem. The linked poem, hainka, can be composed either by the poet himself or in collaboration; haiku by a poet and tanka by another poet. Precisely the concept of hainka writing is an assimilation of objective sensitivity of haiku with the more subjective oriented of tanka poetry, and further exhibiting a component of poetic fusion with the repetition or recurrence of the image of ‘fragment’ in the following tanka as the ‘pivot line’.
Unlike the continuous linked form as seen in renga, the hainka is proposed as a single and independent genre of its own. Instead of merely linking a haiku with tanka on the qualitative term, the synthesis in hainka is based on the image linking (the ‘fragment’ of haiku acting as the ‘pivot line’ of the following tanka) to explore human nature, love, emotion on a broader sense by juxtaposing the overall imageries. It is also interesting to see the syllabic coherency between the ‘fragment’ (5-syllable words) with the 5-syllable words of the ‘pivot line’ of tanka. The final structural configuration would be 5/7/5/5/7/5/7/7 (or s/l/s/s/l/s/l/l line format).
A breathing gap (swinging space) is preferred between haiku and tanka for the reader to travel with the idea to manifest a synthesized imagery. Rightly so, Edgar Allen Poe says, “When the poem is short, the reader must be able to understand the silence.”
Interestingly, reference of syllable counting has been seen in the ancient Indian Vedic literature(c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE).While studying the ancient literature, I could correlate hainka , having a total count of 48 syllables, to one of the major Vedic meters, Jagati, which is characterized by a total of 48 syllables in each stanza.
Jim Kacian in his essay, “THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME”, Modern Haiku, 43.3, analyses Ezra Pound’s famous poem, ‘In a Station of the Metro’.
‘The apparition of these faces in the crowd :
Petals on a wet, black bough.’
He writes, “Ezra Pound published this in Poetry in 1913, and it is full of interesting quirks: a title, for instance, and is it meant to be counted as one of the lines? What of those spaces that separate the various phrases within the lines themselves: is this simply a guide to reading, a timing device, or is it following some supposed model?¬ In the latter case, with its five sections, could it be — a tanka? But it has the unmistakable feel of haiku, whatever its vagaries.”
I feel there is an intrinsic blending of haiku and tanka in the sublime state of consciousness.
Hainka can explore poetic interlinking objective picturisation with the subjective depiction of tanka thus embodying beauty of nature and interweaving the wide thematic values of human expression: pathos, anguish, emotion, romanticism, humour with the poetic elegance, musicality and transcendental image.
This image-linking across time and space is the art of painting an integrated poetic expression and exhibiting the fervent elucidation and elegancy of hainka writing. Moreover, it retains its focus on the beauty of genetic image-linking to explore the poetic spell within the broader structural framework of the aesthetic essence of the Japanese short form of poetry.
Haruo Shirane in his article expressed, “One of the ideals that Basho espoused toward the end of his life was that of the “unchanging and the ever-changing” (fueki ryuko). The “unchanging” implied the need to seek the “truth of poetic art” (fuga no makoto), particularly in the poetic and spiritual tradition, to engage in the vertical axis, while the “ever-changing” referred to the need for constant change and renewal, the source of which was ultimately to be found in everyday life, in the horizontal axis.”
Echoing the spirit of Basho’s ‘atarashimi’ (newness), I wish that the new verse will entwine the art of gratitude encompassing nature, living beings, non-living beings, and humanity as a whole along the vertico-horizontal axis.
I have experimented the following hainka:
melting snow
sharing warmth
each other
under sunshine
kids clap together
melting snow
unfolding the secret
gathers smiles on smiles
**
cloud patches
a mole on the moon
and on her face
gust of breeze
unlocks her braided hair
cloud patches
descend as achromatic drops
erasing her floating thoughts
**
mountain peaks
the clouds so close
in my dream
migratory birds
on an ever long streak
mountain peaks
standing silently record
the footprints of their journey
**
rock exposure
the music of waves
rhymes on its edge
cloud sails
over the hillocks
rock exposure
gathers streams of hope
rinsing the scars of dryness
**
unfolding love
from flower to flower
a butterfly
dream sprouts
from a tiny seed
a butterfly
on its maiden flight
links the length of its journey
Jim Kacian liked the concept and archived the details article in the Digital Library of The Haiku Foundation. I received many applauds for the new genre from Hidenori Hiruta, Kala Ramesh, Prof. R K Singh, Christine Ville, and many well- wishers. The Cherita poetry inventor, ai li, introduced the genre in her blog along with other genres of short poems. I was thrilled when Shernaz Wadia, the Co-inventor of Tapestry Poetry, tried to compose a hainka and sent me her experimental poem for my reading pleasure.
Some of my hainka have been translated into Arabic by Dr. Mohammad Helmi Rishah. Chen-ou Liu has shown his keen interest to archive the article in the prestigious column “To the LightHouse”. Hidenori is kind to translate my hainka into the Japanese for a wider notice.
Q4. You were one of the first Indian haijin to write monoku. What attracts you to monoku? Can you tell us what makes a winning monoku ?
A4. I am not the first to write monoku or a one-liner poem. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s one-line poems (monoku like), “The Stray Birds” are more of proverbial expression with poetic lucidity.
If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.
K. S. Venkatramani (1891-1952) in his book Paper Boats (1921) wrote a one-liner haiku.
the corners cut paper boat I float again.
Kala Ramesh, S. Srinivas, Radhamani Sharma, Anitha Varma, Aravinder Kaur and others write beautiful monoku.
I still remember, during my school days I used to write a single-line proverbial poem in Odia or in English at the end juxtaposing the essence of the essay. Later on, I composed a few one-liners (titled as ‘Flying Words’) which were published in PoetBay in 2010. I could find a marked similarity of those one-line expressions with the monoku.
The shadow speaks the value of the trees, Poetbay, 2010
Gradually I started writing one-liners and read scholarly articles by William J. Higginson, Alan Summers, Jim Kacian, Jim Wilson and others. I like the brevity of expression with poetic and literary substance. Often I take the vehicle of the structural style of monoku for the poetic exhibition. While composing haiku, at times, I rearrange the words to suit better for the expression in the form of monoku.
I guest-edited November 2019 Per Diem Column, The Haiku Foundation, on the theme, “Celestial Bodies” (Monoku). I extend my gratitude to Jim Kacian and Bob Scott for their inspiration.
I wish to cite Nicholas Klacsanzky’s interpretation of one of my monoku in his Haiku Commentary column:
the zero-shadow moment I am with myself
By Pravat Kumar Padhy , The Heron’s Nest Vol. XXI, Number 3, 2019
“As with most fine one-line haiku, this poem can be read in several ways:
the zero-shadow
moment I am with myself
or:
the zero-shadow moment
I am with myself
or:
the zero-shadow moment I am with myself
Apart from the established technique of monoku in One-breath (Alan Summers’s Abructive Technique), Classic style of one-line haiku and One-line haiku with classic multiple meanings, I have devised several ways for analyzing the structural styles of monoku in the article titled “An Experiment with Minimalism in Haiku Literature”, Under the Basho, 2018.
As far as technique is concerned, I feel different authors coin the one-line haiku differently. The play of the words with sublime juxtaposition, internal musicality, often with layered meanings justify monoku with literary values. The poetic effectiveness of the one-liner will be diluted if the monoku is expressed in conventional s/l/s format.
Discussion on syllable count, whether to express in one, two, or three lines or four lines (four lines are sometimes known as haiqua or celtic haiku), poetic sincerity and honesty (fuga no makota) as suggested by Basho ought to be honoured even in the neo-literary revolution of writings style. Monoku needs to stand out as an independent sub-genre of haiku expression by synthesizing the essential haiku elements and thematic illumination of aesthetic haiku sublimity. Monoku is perhaps one of the best examples of radiating the poetic spell in its brevity and engaging the readers to celebrate the rainbow of multiple meanings. This can sprout the new literary art in ever minimalistic expression, as rightly Jacob Salzer states:
“I find that haiku reminds us to use caution with our words, and also helps us realize the value of a single word. In terms of “economy of language”, one-line haiku makes full use of very few words, even more so than three-line haiku. The depth, and layers of a single word often really comes alive in one-line haiku, as it’s presented in a refined format, making familiar words both fresh and insightful…..”
For a monoku with substance, I prefer to say that it needs to be characterisd by the basic elements (teikei) of haiku. Monoku also reflects internal juxtaposition (renso). The monoku needs to have the essence of fragment and phrase with the art of juxtaposition. Jane Reichhold opines, “…One-line haiku can be as good as any three-line haiku in the hands of the experienced. The main weakness of the form is the ease of a one-line to become a simple run-on sentence. It is absolutely vital that the author understands, and uses, the concept that a haiku is composed of two parts – the fragment and the phrase, especially when there are no line breaks to show this hallmark of haiku. Experienced haiku writers can create the cut with grammar…”
Some of my monoku are given below for the readers’ pleasure:
melting away my pain– garden dew
The Heron’s Nest, Vol. XV, No. 4, December 2013, tinywords, 18.1 2018
the moon behind the shyness your crescent smile
A Hundred Gourds, December 2015
a piece of chalk in my pocket first day of retirement
Frogpond, 41:2 Spring –Summer Issue, 2018
moonrise the sky from the oncology wing
Presence # 61, 2018 a hole in the light: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2018
dense bamboo bush the comfort of a sparrow
Presence 63, 2019
winter morning splitting the silence from the cuckoo’s nest
Under the Basho, 2019
sun, sea, sand and the footprints
Modern Haiku, 50:3, 2019
on the back of a refugee a pregnant dog thrashing the shore current
is/let, 21.3.2020
mirror surface the past I leave behind
Presence #67, 2020
ant trail somewhere the missing sound
Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, 27 October 2020
earthrise a new address from the distant orbit
Presence #68, 2020
bright sky still holding half of the darkness
Blo͞o Outlier Journal, December 2020
To be continued next Thursday with part 3, the final part.
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