Paranoia

Paranoia is an imagined fear that someone will hurt or kill us. Paranoia is an attempt to make the false true. Even if the fears a paranoid person has are based on something in the real world, what that person is afraid of is a figment of imagination. Paranoia is a mental malaise that makes a person who has lost the ability to reason coherently break with reality and eventually destroy the very sense of self. If paranoia is limited to an individual, then they can be moved to one side and administered rehabilitative therapy or counselling. But what if an entire society is afflicted by paranoia? Like the rise of Nazi totalitarianism in the 20th century, what we now see in our land, our neighbouring states and in several parts of the world is an ongoing and widespread orgy of paranoia fueled by totalitarian regimes in the name of religion, race, caste and creed. It is in the very grip of these dark times that Hemant Divate has chosen to write his poetry. It's not just because of this, that his poetry matters. What matters is his courage to dip his finger into the very wound of these terrible times, without pretense, with an un-disguised, un-imitative voice, just relying on the fearlessness of his words, speaking easily and universally about the world he finds himself in, and, in the process, forces open both his eyes and those of his readers. Pores are opened. Boils are lanced. With neither the overarching voice of rage nor swinging on the trapeze of obfuscation, all of Divate's poems follow a middle path. Their beginnings, expansions and rhythms stay right down this middle way. Writing this way is not the work of a dilettante. His skill lies in relying on his poetry's inner voice even as he confronts the most challenging issues of his times. His visual environment spans new approaches to our existence, new ways of seeing metaphysics, the tangled web of sexuality, the various aspects that layer lust, human desire, feelings, aspirations and motives, oppression.

REVIEWS & PRESS COVERAGE

Poetry during chaos: Review of Hemant Divate’s poetry book ‘Paranoia’

A Literary Review of Hemant Divate’s anthology ‘Paranoia’

“Paranoia” by Hemant Divate

‘Paranoia’ by Hemant Divate captures the visceral fear and disquiet of a Mumbai on edge