Jejuri poems are all about Arun Kolatkar visiting the temple town in the state of Maharashtra where 'every other stone is a god or his cousin'. The poems are delicately written yet sharply observed - a temple door, a yellow butterfly and Maruti himself find equal care given to them all in turn. Jejuri poems oscillate between faith and scepticism. In his plat and colloquial tone, Kolatkar ironically treats the parallel scenario reinforcing it with concrete imagery. Kolatkar's use of concrete imagery, subtle irony and symbolism reinforces the central theme of alienation and perception. The place, the time and the narrator provide unity of a sort to the collection. The juxtaposition and the contrastive placing of the human, the natural and the
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The entire sequence is framed between sun - rise and sun - set, the sun appearing in the poem from time to time as a significant central symbol. The other important theme is the very existence of life and the variety of forms it has. Jejuri celebrates life in all its varieties and the reverent openness to life in its livingness is one of the most endearing qualities of the poem. The poet presents through a special kind of consciousness of microcosm reflecting in some significant way the macrocosm of the universe. He also puts forth man's quest for his identity in this vast universe. In fact his journey to Jejuri is his journey towards eternity. Evoking the town's crowded streets, many shrines, and mythic history of sages and gods"), from arrival in the town of Jejuri to departure. Or, attempted departure, as the mystically charged town seems to spoil the narrator's departure, stranding him on the platform waiting for the next train (with the arrival of said train being concealed from …show more content…
Some critics say his writing was facetious (“scratch a rock/and a legend springs”), some say transcendental (“No more a place of worship this place/is nothing less than the house of god”), some say political (“let’s see the color of your money first”) and some say anti-theocratic (“A catgrin on its face/and a live, ready to eat pilgrim/held between its teeth.”) I say that he took complex concepts from his native Marathi tongue and wrote them simply in English, with a style that would make a poet in any language
The entire sequence is framed between sun - rise and sun - set, the sun appearing in the poem from time to time as a significant central symbol. The other important theme is the very existence of life and the variety of forms it has. Jejuri celebrates life in all its varieties and the reverent openness to life in its livingness is one of the most endearing qualities of the poem. The poet presents through a special kind of consciousness of microcosm reflecting in some significant way the macrocosm of the universe. He also puts forth man's quest for his identity in this vast universe. In fact his journey to Jejuri is his journey towards eternity. Evoking the town's crowded streets, many shrines, and mythic history of sages and gods"), from arrival in the town of Jejuri to departure. Or, attempted departure, as the mystically charged town seems to spoil the narrator's departure, stranding him on the platform waiting for the next train (with the arrival of said train being concealed from …show more content…
Some critics say his writing was facetious (“scratch a rock/and a legend springs”), some say transcendental (“No more a place of worship this place/is nothing less than the house of god”), some say political (“let’s see the color of your money first”) and some say anti-theocratic (“A catgrin on its face/and a live, ready to eat pilgrim/held between its teeth.”) I say that he took complex concepts from his native Marathi tongue and wrote them simply in English, with a style that would make a poet in any language