Arup Sengupta

Slow Down Arup Sengupta

Hype of globalization is inescapable in today's world and it claims to make the world smaller every day. At the same time, that small world seems to have now been divided into countless islands with unwelcome boundaries. In fact, the ongoing phenomenon that 'our world is being broken down into fragments by narrow domestic walls' is clearly on the rise. Technological advances constantly preach: fast is good, comfort is progress and information is knowledge. At the least, such mindsets warrant close scrutiny. With insightful observations in tandem with hardcore realities of life from around the world, the poems here tend to challenge progress as portrayed by conventional wisdom, reaffirm the power of human spirit, uphold values of our deep-seated aspirations and assert that real good things happen only slowly - one step a time. The poems draw their inspiration from tangible, concrete sources around the world; it may be a friend, a memory, a visit to a place, an event, an aspiration, a conflict, an insult or ever-resonating love. The author walks around in a 120-year old research laboratory of Dmitri Mendeleev in St Petersburg, Russia and deeply admires how his invention of Periodic Table has connected the rest of the world and served as a metaphor of what is universally good. The poem draws a true parallel between every element and every human through the words: 'For it (element) has a core and a face/a specific home with address.' In the poem titled 'Lead: My Saga in Flint, MI, ' hundreds of children and elderly in the wealthiest country were inflicted with severe lead poisoning but it was truly a man-made crisis perpetrated by human greed. We see a toxic lead molecule that is claiming no responsibility: 'I committed no sin/I meant no harm/your greed made me homeless for no fault of mine.' In the poem, Soccer: the Cradle of Ultimate Democracy, the author sees in this simple game a level playing field and a unifying force to connect all around the globe. For his long-lost extremist friend in the poem 'My Friend from Seventies, ' a question raises its head 'Who really perished/and who would live forever?' The author has traveled to over fifty countries and in the poem 'Key to Joy', he first laments 'I observe as I travel/Borders kill more than save.' He later declares 'Contrast is the mother of all harmony/that we must learn to accept.' The words 'happiness' and 'competition' are omni-present in today's society and ironically, they are constantly in conflict with each other. In 'Slow Down, ' which gives its title to the entire collection, the poet simplifies the challenge 'There isn't any road to happiness/road is the happiness.' And later, 'Turning to each other is more fun/than turning against.' At the end, these poems challenge the status quo, force us take a pause and at times trigger the question: Are we on right path?