“Madhulika”, poetic creativity of Prof. C. Upendra Rao

“Madhulika”,

poetic creativity of Prof. C. Upendra Rao

Book Review by  

Prof. Sushant Mishra, JNU

            “Madhulika” is a pleasant surprise as a collection of poems in Sanskrit, written by Prof. C. Upendra Rao. Prof. Rao is also a Pali scholar yet, he writes these poems in elegant Sanskrit. The metaphorical associations of the poetic style exhibit the matured thinker in Prof. Rao, who has reflected upon the contemporary political situations to a personal emotional outburst, natural to poetic creativity. Prof. Rao himself writes, “Kavih marmikah bhavati” (a poet is touched by the happenings around him, and also is capable of touching the heart of others). In this collection, entitled “Madhulika”, there are fifty-one poems, each with a distinct flavor. 

            The poet sends messages like “chīna nirmitaṁ na kreshyāmaḥ” (Let us not buy the products of China) and equally deftly expressed the emotional being of himself in “Tvayaa vinaa” (Without you), a confessional poem of love. In various poems, Prof. Rao has experimented with the versification and rhyming patterns exhibiting the vivacity of the language of the poems. Written in Sanskrit, the poet has used deftly some of the traditional metres and also has gone to express himself in blank verses. 

            Fore-worded by an eminent scholar, Mahāmahopādhyāya Ramākānt Shukla, the collection entitled “Madhulika” is a collection of beautiful Sanskrit poems invoking pride in the language as well as the matured reflection of the poet on the contemporary social, political and personal lives in our times. 

            It has been a pleasure for me to read these poems.