Keki N.Daruwala has received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984. He is often known as a landscape poet and has also won The Commonwealth Poetry Award. He has described his poetry himself that it presents “a totally impressionistic recording of subjective responses.” He has also acclaimed that his poems are ‘earthy’ because they are “rooted in the rural landscape.” In his poems we can find themes like death, domination, violence and cynicism. He has rendered his services in police so readers can understand that violence cannot be avoided in his writings. He has written some important volumes entitled Under Orion (1970), Apparition in April (1971) and Crossing of Rivers (1976). Looking into the dynamics of the present poem the poet says in few lines that-
“The burning ghat erupted phosphorescence:
and wandering ghost lights frightened passer-by
as moonlight scuttled among the bones.
Once strolling at dawn past river-bank and ghat
we saw embers losing their cruel redness
to the grey ash that swallows all, half cooked limbs
bore witness to the fire’s debauchery.”
In the above mentioned lines the poet says about a ghat where dead bodies are burnt. The ghat is burning because it is busy in engulfing the dead bodies. In Hindu religion dead bodies are burnt. The ghat erupted phosphorescence means that the ghat was surrounded all around with fire. It seems to the poet that passerby and passengers are frightened because of the wandering ghost lights erupted from the ghat. Moonlight here means that night is visible but still people are afraid because of the ghat which is continuously burning. In the morning the poet goes to the ghat along with his father. The ghat is situated near the bank of a river. The poet witnesses embers which mean woods and coals which have lost redness of the fire and now only grey ash is left. The poet has also witnessed the debauchery of the fire because dead bodies are not completely burnt. Half cooked limbs suggest that half of the body has been burnt and half is still left. It is the debauchery or immoral behavior of the fire. In the next few lines the poet says that-
“My father said,” you see those half-burnt fingers
And bone stubs? The fire at times forgets its dead!”
A Zorastrian I, my child- fingers clenched
Into a little knot of pain,
I swore to save fire
From the sin of forgetfulness.”
In the above mentioned lines the father says to the poet that he can witness how the bone stubs and half burnt fingers are left at the ghat. It seems that fire at times forgets its dead. The poet discloses his religion that he is a Zorastrian and in his religion fire is worshipped so his child fingers clenched with pain. He cannot see the sins of fire because he is a child and he swore to save fire from sin of forgetting its dead. In these lines it is reflected that the poet is a child. In the next lines he says that-
“It never forgot, and twenty years since
As I consigned my first born to the flames-
The nearest Tower of Silence was a thousand miles-
The fire-hymn said to me, ”You stand forgiven,”
Broken, yet rebellious, I swore this time
To save it from the sin of forgiving.”
Now the poet tells us about an incident of his life. Now he is no more a child and he consigned his first born to fire. In his religion dead ones are not burnt in fire but they are kept on the Tower of Silence. The poet says that the nearest Tower of Silence was a thousand miles away. So he committed a sin against his religion and submitted his child to fire. The fire- hymn said to the poet that he has been forgiven. The poet was broken yet he thinks that he will save the fire from committing the sin of forgiving.
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