God Created Budha Too, the 3rd collection of poems by Subhash Babu, still emerges with its unique style, “Like A Movie Subtitle,” and “Pen-Wing.” These poems are motivated by visuals, attaining the position of a different poetic genre—a new breed that combines pictures with words. It’s a lovely collection of poems with an excellent and exquisite ensemble that empowers the readers’ sensibility, celebrating the eyes, intellect, and mind.
Great poetry is not only about beauty; it also carries subtle philosophical undercurrents. Similarly, “God Created Buddha Too” offers a philosophical view on the tragic history of mankind, exodus, political cruelty, cultural blindness, violence, ideological vacuum, love, helplessness, non-violence, and ecology, among other themes. Style is indeed the soul of literature, as Matthew Arnold says. Adhering to its stylistic sanctity, the anthology is impeccably written in an abstract and concrete style, relying more on prose in delivery. Based on this poetic composition, images and texts are woven intrinsically interdependent. In fact, these images are sourced from daily newspapers and websites, serving as a unique artistic composition for the author. This fact speaks volumes about the longevity of these newspaper visuals, which live beyond their limited ordained lifespan.
Undoubtedly, readers would be convinced that it’s a rare breed of poetic expression or a new way of pushing the frontiers of poetic language. Language is the attire of thoughts, and through the use and power of language, the author defines a sensibility that is critical, sarcastic, and questions the existence of our deadly system itself. It’s also worth noting that the prevalence of Charlie Chaplin Consciousness in the poems is another wonderful tool for looking at things in their absolute totality.
Buddha’s energy can be viewed as an undercurrent, although the elements of utter cruelties and hopelessness overwhelmingly engulf us from all angles, as evident in all the poems. The author maintains that the essence of ecological energy has an umbilical cord link with the essence and emergence of non-violence. The phenomenon of the emergence of Buddha Consciousness would have been highly celebrated by Nature itself. In non-violence, greed and ultimate muscle power lead to blind exploitation, leaving scars of blood colors on every animate and inanimate object in the conscience of the earth. The killing in the ecosystem by animals is a “Justice” given to animals by Nature, but not to man. “Kindness” is what Nature gives to Man, not to animals (Poem: “Reading A Dark Face”). On the other hand, Man is endowed with the conscience to weep at the sight of the horrendous color of blood, along with the power of flying with the green lungs of the sky. In fact, Buddha Consciousness encourages us to close our eyes first to blood and not to close our eyes to white-colored meditation.
Since the title of the book, “God Created Buddha Too,” is a poem in this collection, it is interspersed with deep symbolism.
Will it be answerable even if we admit a doubt on the concept or existence of God? There won’t be any watertight answer until the end of time, even if we register sincere attempts from seekers. It doesn’t mean that seeking is meaningless. It is meaningful as long as it centers around theism and atheism vigorously. But if people accept God as a creator for convenience or as an omnipotent-indifferent being, one tends to see the history of life on Earth as ‘maybe’ with a miserable perspective. In a nutshell, it is indeed a remarkable poetic reflection on the different dynamics of spiritual and existential philosophies and becomes a must-read for those who love to be immersed in profundity for the sake of having a better understanding of such metaphysical issues.
Dr. Shiv Sethi is a renowned author, thinker and reviewer.