Behind The Plastic Faces - A Review By Ajay Seshadri Poem by Sathya Narayana

THIS IS A REVIEW ON MY LATEST BOOK PLASTIC FACES AND OTHER POEMS...Publisher: Monfakira, Kolkata-For copies of the book please visit www.monfakira.com
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Society is a structure and in this structure there are umpteen sensations that refuse to spring out of the plastic faces behind which we hide. Sathya Narayana’s poetry in ‘Plastic Faces and other poems’ brings to surface the
society as a structure that operates through the eyes of the dynamic individual or the feeling human being. The poet is vividly descriptive in his contextual poems and brings out the awareness of the levels of angst that a man, who is alone and disadvantaged, experiences through his deep imagery. All his poems, even those that are philosophic and romantic in theme make the reader feel the pulse of each context as though it were alive and happening real time.
In ‘Dream & Reality’, the poet says that the flights of the mind are permissible but reality is far too drab to accept them. ‘Dreams are richer than the real’ for they can accommodate the unrealistic fancy of unconditional happiness which reality cannot even aspire to achieve. A social disparity is revealed when the poet says ‘richer than the real’. This disparity is thematic in ‘Plastic Faces’ and comes through as real experiences in poetry. In poetry there are multiple layers of meanings. Dreams can afford the price of fancy. Reality is too poor and can spend just about enough to make ends meet. Such is the power that is packed in the fertile imagination of these words that I keep reading, to rediscover the poet’s sensitivity.
To Sathya, a flower stands for the human soul. A suffering consciousness is a suffering flower.
“Joy or pain they can’t veil
They are our flowers, our own flowers
Very much like us the villagers
Unkempt, destitute and distressed”
(Our Flowers)
Only one who experiences hardships can appreciate the true nature of what it means to live with them. This fact of life gives Sathya’s poetry the birth of what a flower stands for, as not separate, but one with human experience.
There are many poems wherein the poet conveys the gist of his poems in the final lines. In poetry, the gist captures the emotional impact that you would feel from reading the whole poem sequentially, line after line. For instance there is a revelation that is profoundly moving in “Our Housemaid’s Daughter” in these two lines:
“Shocked; saw those deeper inner scars
She is just four years old”
(Our Housemaid’s Daughter)
The inner scar is deeper than a wound. It is inside and remains long after the wound heals. The girl is of tender years and the damage is too painful for her to grasp leave alone recover from. The pathos is in not knowing the pain that may possibly grow along with you. The poet brings this effect in the magic of the bond, which he makes the reader form with his poetry. His poetry is accessible to all and it can also be called in one sense, poetry in action.
Then there is the title of the poem which says it all as in ‘I Can’t Write a Haiku’. The poet appalled by the plight of sickness around is in no mood to write a Haiku. That reluctance is beautifully conveyed in this poem.
“Where should I look? Which view?
To write a beautiful haiku”

He takes the reader through the decay that is around and confronts ‘those tinted glasses’ through which we conveniently claim to perceive a beautiful world.
“If the whole world looks green
And beautiful to you
From behind those glasses tinted
It is not my fault.”
(I Can’t Write a Haiku)
Poetry has to be spontaneous and this is what the reluctance communicates. As much as we cannot be forced to perceive beauty, we cannot be forced to write poetry. This in itself is a poetic truth.
Spontaneity is revealed in his love poem, ‘Her Smile’. This exposition touches me, for the words are so clear yet so romantic. It is the romance that converts the poem into a painting.
“Smiled she like a vibrant bouquet
Sprinkled with early morning mist
Once reflected on my mirror heart
That very minute; I made it a portrait”
(Her Smile)
Clarity is clear cut by definition but romance by nature is not. The romantic effect is a transporting effect in that it takes you beyond the prosaic. This poem is a graphic poem and is a perfect example of what it means to be romantic.
In Sathya’s poetry one can observe a poet who is conscious despite letting his heart speak for him. Meaning is conveyed by the chords but the poet is not carried away by the euphony. So the meaning reaches the reader. This is crucial to a poet who writes on real life events.
It is a challenging craft to write from the epicentre of society and maintain the associative flow of imagery. The imagery has to be associative as it has to function to make the reader relate to the essence of the poem. ‘Plastic Faces’ for instance is imagery but it strikes with force the vital essence that it endeavours to deliver. Sathya handles this task without difficulty.

“Thinking of the changed world
I looked at myself in the mirror
And tried to smile
Nay! No expression!
There, staring at me
A weird plastic face! ! ! ! ! ! ”
(Plastic Faces)
The meaning is evoked and not conveyed directly. It is in other words delivered. Depending on how it strikes you and how you receive it, you understand it. ‘Thinking of the changed world’ takes you to the beginning of the poem. What was once genuine and natural is now artificial and plastic. Plastic face is a communicable phenomenon. In the end it is acquired staring at you in front of the mirror of an inward witness.
The rich and the poor, the fond passions of love, the philosophical insights, the humour and irony all share a bond with Sathya. That bond is his poetry. As a poet as in his poetic expressions, he does not rest in irony but follows through with an optimism as a possibility and by no means dogmatically. His poetry recognizes the necessity for diversity of thought. In his poem, ‘His Holy Pranks’ he says that both assertion and negation go hand in hand, not as antonyms but as contingent roles in a ‘divine’ creation.
“And appreciate both his wise creations
The staunch believers and the rational pagans
With equal respect and reverence”

(His Holy Pranks)
Both are forms of the same energy without which neither of the stands exists.
Sathya Narayana is a poet who is inspired by social experience. His poetry is in many ways stimulated by the relationships between classes that are separate only in a worldly sense. The human being in an individual is a source of immense strength and assurance. Sathya is concerned not just for those suffering in penury. He also questions the ones who are fortunate by sensitive brilliance. He indirectly points out that if you have to succeed, someone has to fail. So in a way all those who are rich, comfortable and well placed in society ought to be grateful to the ones who are not. Where there is sharing of wealth and wisdom, there is room for life. This is the wisdom of Sathya Narayana’s poetry.
“Don’t you think you owe
Something to those
Whose mistakes helped you to grow
We can brighten their lives
Lighten their burden
If we are ready to share
Our wealth and wisdom.”

(We And They)
- Ajay Seshadri
Mr.Ajay Seshadri is an eminent young poet from Chennai.
The book PLASTIC FACES is published by Monfakira publishers. For copies contact: www.monfakira.com