Keeping Nissim Ezekiel's legacy alive

ldquoSuppose I were a shooting star I would want to be seen that would be my only meaning what is there after all in shooting across the sky and being burnt up But being seen That would be another thingrdquo ndash Nissim Ezekiel d 2004 On busy Dr E Moses Road is an oasis of calm It is the Jewish Cemetery the final resting place for Mumbairsquos Bene Israelis Among those who are buried here is Nissim Ezekiel the famous bard His words above etched on his epitaph echo the journey and contribution of the communityHe may have belonged to one of Indiarsquos tiniest minorities but Ezekiel affectionately called lsquoThe Poet of Bombayrsquo played a key role in postcolonial literature in India having impacted generations To commemorate his 97th birth anniversary December 16 his eldest daughter Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca collaborated with poet and academician Mustansir Dalvi to release Marathi translations of two of his famous poems Poet Lover Birdwatcher and Night of the Scorpion as well as a third Loss that she penned about losing her father to Alzheimerrsquos Disease in 2004Kavita Ezekiel MendoncaFound in translationldquoI read Professor Dalvirsquos translation of poems into Marathi on his Facebook page Many were of poets my father admired like William Carlos Williams and Rilke I enjoyed his translations and began communicating with him Marathi is my first language along with English It is the language of the Bene Israel community of Indian Jews My husband and I also speak Marathi at home although his first language is Konkani My father had cotranslated the poems of the wellknown Marathi poet Indira Sant Last week I requested Professor Dalvi to translate my poemrdquo shares Ezekielrsquos Canadabased daughter ldquoProfessor Dalvi is an accomplished and widely published poet I have been cotranslating my fatherrsquos poems into Spanish and hope to translate them into French somedayrdquo she revealsFor Dalvi Nissim was a familiar avuncular figure while he was at architecture school walking around the same places as he did in South Bombay ldquoI saw Nissim before I read his poems in books at the British Library He was easily recognisable because of his long flowing hair and metalframed glasses I was struck by his strong poetic lines his observations his use of language and how he got the everyday speech exactly rightrdquo Dalvirsquos favourites are Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa TS and The PatriotKavita with Nissim Ezekiel at a weddingHe was well aware of the risks that come with this translation since he began translating from English to Marathi recently ldquoMost of my work is the other way round translating Marathi poems into English I attempted translating English poets both Indian and international to see how their poems sounded in Marathi for my own pleasure I am grateful to Kavita for urging me to translate Nissimrsquos poetry and her own ode to her fatherrdquo Dalvi attempted these with some trepidation but feels he got the spirit of the poems ldquoOf course they have to stand as Marathi poems on their own The act of translation must be subsumed in the final product never to stand outrdquoWhile working on these translations two things struck Dalvi ldquoThe atmospherics in the poem mdash night rain diabolic tail very noir and the prayers that I tried to refashion with rhythmic incantations It is poetry that sweeps in several directions and I was aware of that while I tried to put the translation togetherrdquoDaddyrsquos poetryKavita has fond memories of watching her father at work ldquoI watched with great interest and some amount of amusement the process and technique my father employed in the writing of his poetry I have described this in my poem How Daddy wrote His Poetry He usually took one puff of a Menthol Cool cigarette and left it to die out in the ashtray placed a handkerchief over his eyes and lay down on the bed then back to his desk after a few minutes as the lines came to him writing them down on lined paper then back to the bed again It was a kind of a set rhythmrdquo she reminisces In comparison Kavita writes at her desk in the office space that she shares with her husband ldquoWhen I set out to write a poem I am not conscious of my fatherrsquos influence but once Irsquom done writing and revising I realise his strong influence I have developed my own voice but we share a few similar themes such as a love of nature and ordinary things as well as a more conversational and direct style of writing Sometimes even the tone of our poems is similarrdquo She admits however that the depth and breadth in his writing will need many lifetimes to achieveMustansir DalviThere is something about poetry that attracts children both to read and write it And Kavita wrote poetry from an early age though she did not think it had much to do with her father at that stage except unconsciously ldquoHe was quite excited though that I had become interested in poetry I had a long career in teaching in Indian schools and colleges and in private schools overseas and was deeply committed to the profession I published my debut collection in 1989 Subsequently there was a long hiatus working full time raising two children and moving to another country It was only after I retired that I resumed writing poetry I enjoy writing but it is hard work and my thoughts go back to my father with every poem I write He juggled a fulltime teaching career with his writing mentoring other poets and immersing himself in other interests like art and theatrerdquoUnlike the weight that offspring of successful people tend to carry it was easy for Kavita ldquoMy father never put any pressure on me to write In fact he said he felt people would think he was promoting his daughter He was very conscious of that fact I believe from the messages I receive from individuals whom he mentored that he was very proud of me He even carried my first book of poetry Family Sunday and Other Poems 1989 with him to Israel when he was invited there in 1995 I respected his wishes to not be involved in my writing though it was a difficult decision especially for my mother He devoted all his time and energy to mentoring other younger poets I am certain my writing career would have taken a much different turn if he had done the same for merdquoLegacy mattersKavita is keen to keep his legacy alive She discusses his poetry with todayrsquos younger generations of poets who might not be acquainted with it ldquoI also take every opportunity to introduce him to students of poetry overseas My father was a foundational figure in the postcolonial literary history of India Contemporary poetry cannot be studied in a vacuumrdquoShe is working on a personal memoir to commemorate the centennial anniversary of his birth ldquoIt will be a challenge to record so many special memories of growing up with an interesting and lsquolarger than life characterrsquo Every anniversary is a reminder of his wonderful achievements and how much fun it was to be in his company He was a great storyteller He also had a sweet tooth though he ate everything in moderation so we will celebrate with cake on this occasionrdquo she signs offNissim and BombayEzekiel had a deep commitment to the city of his birth it featured in many of his poems Kavita quotes from Island ldquoI cannot leave the island I was born here and belongrdquo She also shares from Background Casually ldquoOthers choose to give themselves In some remote and backward placeMy backward place is where I amrdquo She had written poems to celebrate his love for the city and hers as well ldquoAs he grew older and needed to be cared for I invited him to live with us in Mussoorie where I was teaching English in an international school He wanted to join us but did not wish to leave Bombay Although many Jews left for Israel he stayed back He believed that if everyone left lsquowho would do something for Indiarsquo He had wanted to do something for India from an early age He was at home here and specifically in Bombayrdquo she sharesKavita the poetKavita recalls a poetry reading session where Ezekiel was asked about his favourite poet ldquoHe replied lsquoMy daughter Kavitarsquo That wasnrsquot meant to exclude my siblings he wrote poems about them too He had named me symbolically and perhaps even prophetically That might have had something to do with it He had obviously put a lot of thought into my namerdquo