Thursday, December 10, 2009

RIP Dilip Chitre

Just heard via the PEN All-India Centre that Dilip Chitre has died. He had been ailing for some time, but it is still a shock.

To Arrange Words [from Poitre]

To arrange words
In some order
Is not the same thing
As the inner poise
That’s poetry

The truth of poetry
Is the truth
Of being.
It’s an experience
Of truth.

No ornaments
Survive
A crucible.
Fire reveals
Only molten
Gold.

Says Tuka
We are here
To reveal.
We do not waste
Words.

From Says Tuka, translated from the Marathi by Dilip Chitre.

Dilip also translated Namdeo Dhasal and a couple of those poems can be found here.

More about Chitre here. His recent paintings here.


Update: More translations of Dhasal at Almost Island. Possibly his last contribution to any journal, Mascara's November '09 issue.

4 comments:

equivocal said...

More of Dilip's Dhasal translations at Almost Island: http://almostisland.com/archives/2008-monsoon/poetry/seven_poems.php

Hari Batti said...

Thanks for posting this sad news.

Space Bar said...

vivek: thanks. i'd forgotten about the poems in ai.

if anyone else has links that are not readily google-able, do post them.

Krishnan said...

May his soul rest in piece.
Can you post about Arun Kolatkar ? Happened to read few poems from his Jejuri and was astounded.