CPIML dips its flag in salute to noted Hindi poet Viren Dangwal who passed away at 4 am on 28 September 2015, finally succumbing to a long battle with cancer. Viren Dangwal infused a fresh energy into progressive poetry, using a lucid idiom accessible to every common person. Always disarmingly humble and warm, Viren Dangwal associated himself with the Jan Sanskrit Manch and other progressive cultural platforms.
Born in 1948, Viren Dangwal was one of the rare poets in our times who constantly challenged the status quo, and his works fearlessly championed hope and change. It is this hope of a more equal and just society that runs through his three poetry collections – Isi Duniya Mein (1991), Dushchakra mein Srishta (2002) and Syahi Taal (2010). He was indeed one of the most respected and loved of peoples’ poets in the Hindi literary world. He transformed seemingly innocuous and banal elements of life and world into the most beautiful metaphors and imagery of change and struggle.
Through his works, Viren Dangwal indeed created for himself a special space in the world of progressive poetry inhabited by the likes of Nirala, Kedar, Shamsher and Nazim Hikmet. In his life, as well as in his poetry, he embodied great commitment. His passing is not just a moment of loss, it is also a moment demanding from us a reiteration of commitment to struggle against communal fascist forces.
Red Salute to Comrade Viren Dangwal !
