Transcendentalism and Skepticism in Arun Kolatkar's Select Poems

Abstract

Arun Kolatkar belongs to the canon of  modern Indian poetry writing in English. He is the only well acclaimed Indian poet other than Kabir to be represented on the World Classics tittle of New York Review of Books. Kolatkar is well versed in both the Language Marathi and English. His poem Jejuri is a collection of thirty-one poem which traces humour in everydays matters. For Jejuri, Kolatkar earned the Common Wealth Poetry prize in 1976. The poem Jejuri presents Kolatkar's view on spirituality, religious experience and imagination. The poems  of Kolatkar ironically present the natural imagery which in a way satirizes the society and its superstitious belief. Kolatkar highlights the pitful situation of modern man who has been entangled between the materialistic world and unable to find a peace of heart, mind and soul within himself. This paper critically analyses the three select poems of Arun Kolatkar- the Bus, the Priest, an Old Woman. All these poems highlights the surrealistic image and also focus on the individualistic approach. Kolatkar transforms his experiences into his works which presents the idea of individualism. Kolatkar presents the individualistic aspect in the poem through the protagonist Manohar who is not a hollow man of Eliot's The Waste Land but a modern educated and rational man, can be seen connected to the transcendentalist philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thus, the paper tends to mark the transcendentalist perspective in the Kolatkar's poetry and also traces skepticism in his poetry.