Dr.R.RABINDRA NATH MENON I.A.S

Dr R.R.Menon—A Unique Indian English Poet with vision, power of expression, wit,  imagination, and with varied and variegated experiences in the fields of science, training and administration:- An appreciation  of his “ Collected Poems- Selections from the Poems of  R.R.Menon”, by one who has known this great poet who has written more than 1000 English poems with more than 1000 different ideas, and above  all, the man in him  for the last 79 years.

      He was born 84 years ago in  Perumbavooor  in Ernakulam district in Kerala, God’s own country. He had his schooling in Asram English High School there. His College education was divided between Union Christian College Alwaye and University College Thiruvananthapuram from where he graduated in Chemistry and moved on to Indian Institute of Science Bangalore to undergo the course in Metallurgy Engineering. He knew that the ‘chimerical honour’ of a mere university degree may not give one the necessary preyas to live in this world. But his industry, intelligence and perception combined with his determination to prove his ability did not make him stop there. He wanted to take his chance in the examinations conducted by the U.P.S.C for recruitment to Class one services including I.A.S. He was selected to Indian Revenue Service. Not satisfied he did make his entry into I.A.S. in the Emergency I.A.S..Recruitment made by Govt. of India in mid fifties. I do not want to prolong his innumerable achievements already adumbrated in the note on “The Author” at the beginning of this fine book itself, a gist of which is given at the end of this appreciation.

    The above- mentioned most impressive and unforgettable book is certain to leave a lasting impression on any one who has the patience to go through this voluminous “Magnum Opus” containing poems vibrant with scintillating and mind-elevating images, ideas and similes —yes impressions which are ‘proof positive’ of his intellectual prowess, imagination, power of perception, range of knowledge and incomparable skill in describing what he feels as correct in an inimitable style of his own in a frank and fearless way. And fearlessness is the first virtue preached by Lord Krishna in Sreemad Bhagavad Geeta.

       

     This monumental work containing 1015 poems, has been rightly hailed as a “Magnus Opus” by Dr P.T.Thomas ( Dean of Social Science, Jodhpur University and a visiting Professor of  Manchester (U.K.) Tulsa (U.S.A.) and Singapore. He wrote in his introduction thus:- “This book of Collected poems is a “Magnum Opus” a critique of which is a Herculean task”.  Greatly impressed by this work he states  “ I know of no other poet, particularly  Indian, writing in English, or even those writing in English elsewhere, having produced a collection of so many short poems with a wealth of images from different knowledge disciplines that embellishes and emphasizes the levels of meanings in this poems. Dr.Menon emerges a winner both in quantity and quality, the hall marks of a poetic genius”.—

      When I presented him with my seventh book – ( about 15 years  of my post retirement research about the use  and greatness of Bharatheeya wisdom, untaught in schools and colleges in Bharath, that is  India,  helped me produce 7 books connected with the glorious man-making  Bharatheeya wisdom,) he silently went in to bring a present-  a gift of Rs. 5000, despite my protests and this last monumental work containing more than 1000 poems which made me stand stockstill. ---/////. Similarly when I had given  him a few years ago,  my Lord Hanuman-inspired second book titled Bharatheeya Dharmic and Cultural Values (a condensed work on the Indian Value system which incidentally was presented by Shri Sankaracharya, in quite unplanned circumstances, to the Lord of Guruvayoor,  he smilingly gave me the small  price of Rs 50 of that book stating that the discussions in it specially the one on Dharma was interesting. He did not care for my protests because he, as a writer, knew about the efforts that go into the production of a book!

    Ianuman Hanuman had once requested him to give a gist in two sentences about the great ideas or messages contained in his poems. He then had said that a poet writes; it is for the reader to make his own, interpretations. But when I insisted on his giving the message contained in his poem on Millipedes he gave the message in brief. The millipedes have thousands of legs, India too has thousands of persons. But both the millipede and India move very slowly only!!

      I have found him thinking and writing.  He must have been thinking about ideas and images that can leave lasting and effective impressions on the reader and the individuals in society for their general improvement.

     His spectrum of knowledge is spectacular. His wit and sarcasm sometimes makes one burst  into laughter. Yes “one’s wife and valet have little respect for the master of the house because they have seen him in his birthday suite”!!! He was a good conversationalist who used to regale his friends with his views, versions and visions.  

      It is said that poetry is a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility.

His feelings were vibrant with interesting ideas. And a good idea is said to be thousand times better than mere verbal suggestions.

      There is great variety in his thoughts, themes, use of imagery, irony and sarcasm in his poems, vision and imagination expressed with mind-elevating rhythm. His powers of perception and observation enabled him to see the maladies in society and the weaknesses and foibles of its members. His themes are suggestive of remedies of such maladies. With the help of metaphors and similes and sarcastic suggestions he aims at eliminating the cancer that has been  eating into the vitals of society.

     Permit me to be presumptuous enough to sum up my comments that this trilingual poet, with this book characterized as a Magnum Opus, has proved his nature and stature as a person without any fear of criticism and death.  ( He has written poems not only in English but in Malayalam and Kannada too ).

  He was a brilliant student with a concern for the members of his family and of humanity, a scientist with faith in Lord Almighty. And Lord helped him fearlessly and painlessly pass away peacefully to merge with Bliss at the age of 84, in the famous St.John’s Medical college Hospital soon after 1. pm defying even  the predictions of medical specialists that his ‘condition is improving’, on the most Auspicious Day of Vaikunta Ekadesi on 17^th of December 2010 after a full and happy life on this short isthmus between two eternities.

 He had also the fortune to see the seventh book of mine on AdiParaasakhthi dealing exclusively with the world-famous Attukaal Bhagavathy and Temple- a temple which has found a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest gathering of women (25 lakhs) on a single day- and participate in the marriage of his dear granddaughter Poornima in November 2010. in the Tajhotel in Bangalore  

      Eka Sloka Lalitha Sahasranamam :-Before the completion and presentation of the book on Sri Chottanikkara Devi during the inaugural function of The Navarathri festival, I told him about my idea of suggesting an Eka Sloka Lalitha sahasranamam , not suggested by any one within my knowledge, the God-blessed rich and fertile brain of my brother came out with two and not only one such Sloka without delay. The idea inspired him too. Permit me to draw your attention to his divine capacity of suggesting not only one but two Ekasloka Lalitha Sahasranams which I have incorporated in my Divinity- inspired two books on Adi Paraasakthi  viz “The Greatness and Glory of Shree Chottanikkara Devi and The Temple ( Lakhshmi Narayaneeyam)”, my fifth book  and  “ The Greatness and Glory of Attukaal Bhagavathy and the Temple ( Attukaal Bhagavathheyam)” – my 7^th Book. The latter was presented to Attukaal Devi as ‘Birthday’ Day gift to Devi with a Samarpan Pathra in English and Malayalam on 21^st of November 2010 (Thrikkarthika Star)and released formally by Justice Shri Radhakrishna Menon along with his wife under providential circumstances on 22^nd November  2010 at Attukaal. ( Both the Author and the Judge are settled in Ernakulam). They are reproduced verbatim from the said books on the great Mahadevi ( The Adiparaasakthi sitting at Chottanikkara in Ernakulam Dt. and Attukaal in Trivandrum Dt.)

First Sloka (Verse) :- The concept of one and the same Devi assuming many forms mooted originally in Devi Bhagavatham, and adumbrated and emphasized in Jagadguru Sri Sankaracharya’s works like ‘Kanakadhara Sthothram’ and ‘Soundarya Lahari’has been adapted and adopted in recent times by Dr R.R.Menon I.A.S. (Retd) in two devotional slokas in which he sees Devi as ‘Amma’ who is a combination of many ‘Devees’. They are given as the fourth and fifth Slokas in the books written by this writer by the grace of Devi and  which can be  considered for using as Ekasloka Lalitha Sahasranamam. They interalia emphasize the creative, protective and destructive aspects of Devi, who is considered sitting on the cot carried on their shoulders by Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara.  

       “Ya Radha Hari nirbhara vimala sadraagesvi suddheekritha,

        Ya karunniya guanathireka mahimaam karmeshti yoga sprihaa

        Ya Srishti  Sthithi Samhritim chakalayan sneha prathishtaakari

         Sa Mathaamritha moda saadhakamayee maam paathu devi sadaa”.

( Whoever is Radha, full of Hari or Krishna, purified with pure love, whoever shows by deed the greatness of the quality of compassion , whoever establishes love beyond the three aspects of God in creation, preservation  and dissolution, may that Amrithu and bliss giving Matha (Mother)protect me.)

    Second Sloka/Verse :-

     “ Ya Kalee Parameswaree cha vasudha Lakshmee Jaganmohinee

         Ya Vanee Thripureswaree mama hriday praptha Threeveni gunaa

          Ya Sambhur vidhi Vishnumelitha Parabrahmaasriya mohanaa

           Sa Mathamritha moda sadhakamayee mam pathu Devee sadaa”.

      ( Whoever is  Kaali, Paarvathi, Bhoomidevi, Lakhshmi, Jaganmohini, whoever is Saraswathi and Thripura Devi and in my heart producing  Punya (Good effect) of a Thriveni  Sangama or the confluence of three rivers and whoever reminds one as a combination of the beauty of Siva, Brahma and Vishnu as Parabrahma, may that Matha( Mother) full of Amrithu and bliss protect me)

    

  The Reverend Father Gabriel, my Professor who later founded the Amala Medical College near Trichur and Dr. R.R. Menon:-  For  me , apart from playing the role of a brother , he played the role of a  Father too  during the course of my entire university career and after. Once before sending me for my college career he wrote in a sarcastic way “ The  chimerical honour of a mere university degree does not hold out any charm for me”. However he felt very happy when he heard from  my dear Professor Rev Father Gabriel, a great visionary (with perception)  in his own right that my Intermediate marks in 1953 have probably created a new record in Natural Science ( Second group) in the Madras university in March 1953. Despite his supercilious sarcasm for a mere degree he had  agreed to the suggestion of Father Gabriel to shift me from the Commerce group to the much desired Second group in the Sacred Heart College for which there was stiff  competition because of the medical college which started functioning in Trivandrum in 1952. So there was a great rush for the second Group. And here was a perceptive and impartial Rev. Father  offering me  a seat on a platter without my even asking for it,  with the prediction to my brother    “that Balan , your brother will get high rank in intermediate exam which will help him enter medical college. The  marks in science secured by him in the E.S.L.C. exam indicate the same.  When he heard about the opinion and prediction of the Reverend  Father he rushed from Trivandrum to Ernakulam . When I came out of the class I saw my brother getting  down at the portico of the Sacred Heart College  Thevara Ernakulam  to take me to the good hearted and impartial Rev Father to  gladly agree to his suggestion . And lo. With  the blessings of Devi I stood first not only in the College in the Intermediate Exam held in March 1953 by the Madras University but also among the applicants to the Trivandrum Medical College with respect to marks in subjects combined with English, there by proving the prediction of the Reverend Father and  bringing happiness to my brother.

           As a husband and father too he was an ideal person.  As far as I know he was dear and near to his friends and colleagues too.

      The valuable Views of others about him and this book:-    After hearing about the views of a person so close to him let us know what others have to write/speak about  Dr. R.R.Menon and his poems written over a period of time and which have found a place in this “ Collected Poems” of  R.Rabindranatha Menon aptly titled “ Selections from the Poems of R.R.Menon”

 1.    Mahakavi G.Sankara Kurup, the first Jnanapith Award winner , and Rajya sabha member,  in his Foreword written in 1967 to ‘Dasavatara and other Poems’ said:- “There is an awakening and awareness of the present in the works of  young poets like Rabindranatha Menon who have woven a distinctive style from the best current strains of English poetry---With a power of compression and comprehension and concentration which no other form of expression can emulate or substitute, good verse is quintessential speech, pulsating in the rhythm of feelings and at several levels of universally applicable meanings. The poems presented in this volume conform  to this criterion of superior wordcraft.—This young poet has tackled it with a commendable degree of success in diverse ways which remind us of Auden’s handling of abstractions through allegory, Eliot’s delineation of ideas by means of images, and Rilke’s depiction of the human in terms of the non-human—The poems are often photos of life, in the raw, ----but the poet’s use of the sudden contrasts and symbols, relieved at times with flashes of satire, reveals originality , discipline and a mastery of technique…”

  2.   Professor H.H.Anniah Gowda, former H.O.D. English, University of Mysore writing in 1993 on “ Sounds of Silence”,Menon’s collection of poems which are included in this Epic states thus:- “ The poems are psalms of life, reflecting its variegated patterns , as lived by the rich, the middle class and the  poor along with their passions , pettiness, predilections and  prejudices , painted in true colours , sharpened by wit and understanding , and presented with the pitilessness of the bold artist who has no holds barred…Dr Menon has that artful knack of extracting the universal from the esoteric , and of making the special sound commonplace …The poet sees the uncommon in the ordinary, the subject is familiar , but the view of it is original. Dr Menon is never a partisan, but at times is a participant. He is always in the midst of action , often as a witness, , but sometimes as one who vicariously steps into the shoes of the subject, presenting the whole experience objectively. Poems which bear an autobiographical imprint appear, but it is impossible to distinguish them from the vicarious variety..

   3.  Professor  Satishkumar, Principal, Govt RAZA College Rampur, U.P. has given high praise to Dr Menon  in his “ A Survey of Indian English Poetry” published by Prakash Book Depot, Bareilly 243003 in 2001:-

        “ Intellectual, administrator  and scientist, R.Rabindranatha Menon is a bilingual poet. He composes both in English and Malayalam. His poetic sensibility has been shaped by Auden , Yeats, Eliot, Spender and Ogden Nash, and Indian mythology, imagery, sociology , science and technology… He is endowed with the rare knack of interpreting ancient myths in contemporary context …He wields language with impeccable excellence, simplicity and clarity. Similes and images, apt and suggestive, are found in plenty in his poetry. --- He has moulded English to reveal Indian Ethos”.

    4. Dr.K.R.S Iyengar , former Vice-Chancellor and the doyen of literary historian-critics, in a personal letter to Dr.R.R.Menon stated “Short poems are as is it were sound-waves or sparks floating on a field of silence..  the unexpected, but apt word, turn of sentiment and comment all reveal the discipline of thought and expression – What is said gains in significance from what is left shrewdly unsaid…I think I will look into this book again and again”

     5. The highly respected, perceptive and well-known critic Prema Nandkumar in her review of the “ The Sounds of Silence” comments as follows:- What is even more welcome is the style employed by him. The anethamas associated with ‘modern poetry’ are not  for him.  Here is no imcomprehensible vocabulary, no distracting effusion, no wanton desecration…Menon has an  uncanny power of observation. Everything interests him. It could be millipede, a village pond or a Barbie doll. Menon’s lens takes extra-long shots and close mid-shots with expert control, as if he had done a stint in the Film Institute.” Menon also gives the message of cultivation of your private garden.. “ Yes one’s private life can still be held beautiful, healthy and truthful.  ‘Housewife’ is such a poem.

     6.Sri K.P.S.Menon  I.C.S. (retd)- a first ranker in the I.C.S. and a great author and literary connoisseur while commenting on the Poems in Pebbles the Shore , the contents of which appear  in this volume with a few verbal modifications,  praise the two Parasuram poems and adds thus “..Pseudo-Revolutionaries would benefit from reading ‘Diehard’ another poem in it------Even more vivid is the description of the desert where, “Time like a python inters everything/in its entrails. The critic praises the poet’s inimitable style in poems like ‘Assessment, ‘Letter from a Divorcee’,  ‘Explosion’ etc

     To Top it all, Smt Emelle Basu’s dissertation dt 22/6/2009 on the topic of /////R.Rabindranatha Menon’s Poems- A Thematic study” for the award of the Degree of  Master pof Philosophy under the supervision of  Dr S.K Singh, Professor of English, Dept of Humanities and Social science ,Indian school of Mines University , Dhanbad resulted in the award of a PhD to her.

     Her study inter alia pointed out that “there is variety in his themes , irony in his poetry, use of imagery, poetic vision expressed in a formal rhythm – He is a sensitive poet who minutely observes the changing society and express his concern for  society from his poetry”.

    

     Dr P.T.Thomas in his 54-page Introduction interalia points out that Dr. Menon’s power of  observation and a strong memory, particularly with his ability to recall at the moment of creation , and connect events, personalities and places , widely distributed over time and place are at play . Poetry essentially comprises verbal craftsmanship. isHis craftsmanship with  words is  part and parcel of his linguistic prowess and he has a huge vocabulary and power of recall to do it with. Even strange and unfamiliar words await his beck and call. Alliteration, assonance, rhyme and rhythm adorn his poems perhaps more than in any other poem written these days. And it is a pleasing feature , contributing to the elegance, style and balance of his poetry. His primary poetic credo is concentration of meaning into space in the expression of it through minimum words. More than eighty  percent of his poems do not exceed one page. ----Over the years he has carved out a unique style for his  poetry , which has clarity, compression , brevity and resonance, a combination of the best characteristics from the east and the west.          

         Poets are supposed to be philosophers from Plato’s times. Philosophical poems without any didactic element , occupy an important place among Menon’s poems.

Examples:- ‘Five elements’ (page 4 of this voluminous work) is a poem that emphasizes the value of moderation. Taking example from nature , the poet expounds the inevitability  of avoiding excesses. ‘Fire earth, sky, water and air (the five elements—Panchabhootas)that make the world and its beings are an upanishadic vision . ‘Each within limits is a provider, a help, a source of comfort; - never in excess. Fire does burn/ water can choke,, sky may  spurn with ozone holes , the wind breakout into hurricane while earth quakes”.

     2 ‘The Ideal Man.’:- ( Page 153) It first describes what constitutes an ideal man. “ To yield, to resist, to withhold, to see when and what to do, are the life guides for man Wisdom, religion books and communion with friends and foes form the framework that can teach the art of living when your base is clean.”. A fair definition . But the fallibility of the human  condition haunts the ideal concept. The Examples of Buddha, Asoka and Bhishma seems to show that even with the best of men situation arises when choice of the best path is far from easy”.

     A majority of poems have been written after retirement. And he has written the plus points of a retired life. Examples are:-

     1. “Retirement”  is an excellent poem (page 403) dealing with the anxieties that well up as the date of retirement approaches in contrast to the poet’s own feeling of relief and enjoyment on its eve and aftermath.

      2 “Musings” (P442)is another poem on the post –retirement phase with a prescription for happiness at that stage. Those who do not agree with the poet’s view find life hard. The poem concludes thus: “ Withdraw from action , the Buddha way/ old age is never for makinghay/Only faithsaves when the flags are down and the green changes into brown.

     3. “Life after sixty” (Page 862)is a fine sensible poem expounding the poet’s reasonable view of how to be happy on the wrong side of sixty. Prescriptions are practicable. “Living always is a matter of priorities,/ you can never finish it all: what bleeds you dress up: debts to different entities/ like family, society, even created needs/ in environs you could hardly control/-some pleasures despite, pains taking its toll/were fulfilled;what remains forms no goal,/ but recedes to the corner of the small hall.”—Life begins and sparkles at sixty if you had planned and managed it with due diligence, granted god’s grace.” The closing lines are a masterpiece of contentment and Indian culture.  “ No need to worry , enjoy your freedomdrom debits and credits, your small kingdom/ with king and hopefully your queen, the grace perhaps flowing from those who are close,/no regret for misses, love might earn its kisses./ Health of mind and body decides/ on a base of limited successes and presides over old age , then the godd who resides /within you , if well recognized calms the tides

     MAKE IT THE THIRD ONE BY LIFTING UP4. “The world at Sixty” ( Page 756) gives a level-headed view of the world, a retired man’s world where one finds solace not in  perfection ,but in a realistic assessment of things. One learns to live with all sorts of persons and things in a set-up often not of ones choice, and there is no point in being unhappy about it. “Skins peel off, not beauty alone, -- the cover comes away in thin slices, -- Humans don’t get sorted out into trays for in and out/ -- judgments become balancing acts of walking on a tight rope, / and tact is part hiding of feelings and facts” You have no other way except to compromise with many things, and accept things as they are, the time to protest, reform and revolutionize is over. This revelation brings a kind of peace. “Sight sans power is a torchlight,-- remember the ambit when the ambition sets in---

     5. Menon is a master of sarcasm and irony. The social ills and inconsistencies that abound around us revolt us. To save and rail at them seems as futile as remaining unconcerned.  Yet something has to be done to preserve social values, nay society itself.  Poets play the role of unacknowledged legislators of the world, but without power or wherewithal for cure. So what they can do to counter them is to employ sarcasm and irony to condemn them and bastions in the minds of people against those evils.—In any case that is what poets without lethal weapons can do to ameliorate the parlous and perilous state in which society finds itself. “Escalator” (Page 14) is a simple but effective poem against people finding easy solutions instead of regular hard work. “If standing still has the finesse, to bring you to the top/……brow’s sweat is an old Biblical fact.”  The poet concludes with an all time true statement, “Happiness eludes enormous heights”. With withering sarcasm the poet deals with the excesses of liberalization.

     In “New Brooms” ( Page 15) there is a passage with which one will hardly disagree.

“Freedom, the yeast for growth; but to grow / the bonds must break in a big overthrow/-- The poet is not against liberalization as such, but against its hasty implementation without effective , built in mechanisms against acquiring wealth through dishonest dealings and scams.

   Culture Vultures ( P185) is frontally a poem about vultures but really about those prominent usurpers of thrones of culture through political influence and manipulative finesse. The poet says that each society has its vultures---.

   The politicians come to receive a blistering attack in the lines of  Mr. Menon.  ( A three-part long poem , politicians’s Handbook  Parts I,II,and III ( Page 325-327), where sarcasm and irony ooze from each line ---) It is presented as an interesting Partha ( Arjuna)- Drona dialogue. It is a deadly combination. ( For more on it pl see page XLIX of Introduction.

    Though the poet is earnest and serious most of the time , light-hearted banter , touching  upon humour, makes a welcome presence amid Menon’s poetic creations. ‘A matter of Dress’( P225) is an example. After picking holes in the saree, dress for women, the poet sees in it a danger danger signal as an easy target for possible rape in the light of an  Italian Judge refusing to convict a man of rape just  because the lady concerned had been wearing jeans.  (For more on it pl see page LI of introduction )

     In short, the range and variety of topics that come in for poetic dissection presents a panorama that is as wide as life itself, extending even to heaven and hell.

     A review of his poems will not be complete if we don’t mention the fact that  Menon uses rhythm and rhyme in most of his poems.

     Dr. P.T.Thomas concludes with the observation that “I have no hesitation to hail this collection as a festival of poetry”. He concludes with a quotation from a University Professor and former Head of the Dept of English. “His words have therefore the ring of truth, truth as edified in  a process of alchemy in the furnace of an artist’s genius. It is poetry par excellence coming from a major poet of our times”--- ‘I wish this poet all success.’concludes Dr.Thomas.

      A Bird’s Eye view of  Bio data Dr.R.R.Menon:- Born 22.09.1926. BSc; D.I.I.Sc ( Met.Engg); D.Litt; Member of the Indian Administrative Service ,. Held top positions in Govt and Public sector. His last few assignments were: Chairman, Coir Board and Marine Products Export  Promotion Council as also Member of Governing Bodies of All-India Shippers Council & Indian Council of Arbitration . Secretary, Lokayukta, Bihar (76-78); Chairman and M.D. Hindustan  Latex Ltd. Trivandrum-(78-81); Commissioner, Training, and Director, Administrative Staff College & Bihar Institute of Rural Developments to the Government of Bihar at the Branch Secretariat at Ranchi (83-84).

       Special Assignments:-Leader of Indian Delegations to F.A.O. (U.N.) Meets at Rome , Manila etc. Chairman of the Expert Committee on Coir, appointed by the Govt of Kerala Planning Commission, Member-Secretary of the Special Task Force on the necessary Developments for the Coir Industry appointed by the Planning Commission of India (73-74)

      Some of the Positions and Assignments held:- President of All-India Poets Meet at Madras, arranged by the World Poetry Society, in 1973. Bio-data appear in publications of I.B.A. (U.K.), ABI (U.S.A.) INFA’s Who is Who etc. Lived at 301, Hundred Feet Road Indira Nagar Ist Stage Bangalore 38, Shuffled off this mortal coil on 17^th of December 2010 , Vaikunta Ekadesi Day.  indus Hind