“In the sky, in the dark
the parrots vanish into the distance.
My daughter is left standing
shining with green
caressing the earth, comforting it.”
Who is Ashok Vajpeyi
Ashok Vajpeyi is a Hindi poet and critic with fifteen books of Hindi poetry and volumes of criticism on Visual Arts, Literature, and Indian Classical Music to his credit. The Poet born in 1941 turns 85 today with accolades such as the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award (1994), Dayavati Kavi Shekhar Samman (1994) and Kabir Samman (2006) and many others to his name. Vajpeyi writes of human transgressions, of the personal, the domestic , and the metaphysical.
Ashok Vajpeyi’s Contribution to Indian Art
Having lived through decades of transformation within the country, Ashok Vajpeyi has contributed to the Indian cultural scene through his dynamic presence and intellectual intervention. His poems such as the one above, titled “The Earth Rescued from Parrots” reaffirms his beliefs of leaving a place better than the one you inhabit and that verses should mitigate against tyranny.
Ashok Vajpeyi is the founder and managing trustee of the Raza foundation, set up to support the recognition and projection of creative talent. He supports poetry’s ambition to understand the world with a latent lens. He remains one of the pionerring individuals of the Indian art scene. He has founded various prestigious institutions like the Bharat Bhavan, a reputed arts complex in Bhopal. His strong personality does not shy away in turning against hierarchical and authoritarian systems, returning awards when needed and voicing his opinions against oppression. He remains to this day a figure of utmost sincerity and principle living, a poet who watches the parrots scouring the skies with his daughter.
Ashok Vajpeyi is 85 today and he is documenting his memoirs with writer Piyush Daiya. As part of the memory project we are publishing his details impressions of four women artists.
You can read them here.
Image Courtesy – Bharat Tiwari Photography
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