My Poetry Books
Poetry rises from the restless and veiled inner creative impulse that desires to be expressed at the conscious levels of life. It then adorns itself with the rich skin of the language, embodying the expressions risen from the profound experiences. The impact of imagery and sound draws the reader towards the profundity and takes him or her beyond the ephemeral. The artistic journey is upwards and outwards, seeking the light of the day with the heat of creative fire there by giving an authenticity and credibility to the reality beneath, through the creation, re-creation and resurfacing images, motifs and symbols etc., crafted through and woven in the language. Concepts and themes at the dermal level can vary but what gives it the innate quality and validity is its ability to draw the deepest unconscious value behind the subject. This process can be highly instinctive and can come through deep meditative gravity and at times through cryptomnesic fleeting moments.
Meena Chopra - Author, Poet and Artist
SHE! The Restless Streak - Poetry and Art collection
FOREWORD by Charles Pachter - OC, O.Ont, Canadian Master Artist and Historian
In “SHE! The Restless Streak” Meena Chopra reveals herself to be a true original who combines words and images with grace and dexterity. She is that rare being who can transcend reality in her works to un cover layers of mystical experience through her search for cosmic consciousness, hidden truths, and subtle meaning.
In her pastels, acrylics and digital depicting the female form in various states of trance-like existence she succeeds in bringing rhythm and sensuality to her elemental visions. The subtle textures and colours that she combines beautifully with her words invite the viewer into her world of wonders. She can transform banality into eloquence with ease. Her poetry reveals subtle and astute observations of natural phenomena, from microcosmic details to sweeping macrocosmic over views of human existence. In her visual metaphors combining the human body with surreal depictions of the human eye she beckons us to ponder the meaning of life. Through the vortex of space she draws the eye upward through expressions of monumentality and tonality, orchestration of colour, and positive and negative balance. The result is shape shifting, alluring and metaphysically inspiring. Her words and images together are a gift.
Gallery
Ignited Lines - Poems and Drawings
“…. Painting and poems go very well together. There is vitality in the forms, colours and the words chosen by Meena Chopra. Here is a charming feast of lyricism in paintings and poems.”
- Late Dr. L.M. Singhvi
(These comments were left by him in my Visitor’s Book, during my art exhibition and launch of 1st edition of ‘Ignited Lines’ in London U.K. 1996)
“Meena Chopra will not have too many words getting in be-tween the ignition of an idea and its consummation. It must be having to do with the fact that she also paints. Her poems have neat compactness of paintings; words become colours that fill up the canvas if-or when she is not using her brush. Ignited Lines, Meena’s first volume of verse, is therefore not for the gallery; rather, it is a gallery. You can browse through it, but you will periodically pause, much like when confronted with a new painting that has succeeded in achieving the different, a range and depth of emotions far removed from the every day cliches of existential dilemmas, not existence. She unveils shimmering facets of love, possession, mind and self with sensitivity. She is delicate but strong, gentle yet sharp, vulnerable yet proud. Self-actualization is more a matter of routine than effort; it is the moment beyond the ones of self knowledge that she wants to live up to, and become, not a mere rhapsody in search of life but a rhapsody in search of the deeper self. In this sense she is her own Sun, her own guiding star as is brightly revealed in the poem ‘Fire’.” - Gautam Siddharth The Pioneer (Book reviews), Delhi, (India) 28.9.1996
सुबह का सूरज अब मेरा नहीं है! ( Adieu to the Dawn)
कविता की भाषा में उनके संग्रह की असंलक्ष्य क्रम व्यंग्यध्वनि पढ़ने वाले को, अगर सचमुच वह सहृदय भावुक है, तो उसे एकाएक कौंधेगा कि यह कवयित्री व्यंजना के सहारे कितनी मार्मिक बात कह रही है और उसके भीतर की करुणा का आकाश कितनी दूर तक भासमान है। असल में आँखों से दीख पड़ने वाले आकाश से कहीं बड़ा और अपरिमेय है बंद आँखों का आकाश।”
- डॉ.कैलाश वाजपेयी सदस्य साहित्य अकादमी, भारत
उनकी कविताएं परिपक्व कविता का ठोस नमूना हैं जो जीवन में संबन्धों को नई व्याख्या देती हैं। विदेशों में रची जा रही कविताओं में मीना चोपड़ा की कविताओं का स्थान विशिष्ट माना जाएगा।
-तेजेन्द्र शर्मा , लंदन, इंगलैंड
“مینا کے رنگ کینو س پر بکھر تے ہیں تو شا عری کر تے ہیں اور جب وہ شا عری کر تی ہے تو دھنک کے رنگ اس کی شا عری کے کینوس پر بکھر جا تے ہیں- مینا کی رو ح فطر ت کے حسن سے جڑی ہو ئ ہے اور جب اسکا حسا س دل اور سو چتی آ نکھیں ان منا ظر سے گزر تے ہیں تو عشق کے آ وے پر ا حسا س کی مور تیا ں ڈ ھا لتے ہا تھ جلتے ہو ئ
ے چر ا غو ں جیسی نظمیں قطا ر در قطا ر سجا تے چلے جا تے ہیں"
-Nasim Syed
(Meena Chopra ek shaiira hii naheii.n artist bhee hai is liye shaayad jab is ke rang canvas par bikharte hai.n to rang shairii kerte hai.n aur jab woh shairii kartii hai to dhanak ke rang us kii shairii ke canvas par bikhar jate hai.n. Meena kii ruuh fitrat ke husn se ju.dii huii hai aur jab iska hassas dil aur soochte ankheen iin manazir sy guzar te hain to ishq ke aaway per ehssas kii morteyaN dhaltee hath jalte hue charagon jise nazmiin qatar der qatar sajate chalii jate hai.n....Nasim Syed)
रंग और नूर رنگ اور نو RANG AUR NOOR
(कनाडा की उर्दू एवं हिंदी की काव्य प्रतिभाओं का काव्य संकलन) कनाडा का राष्ट्र जो की विश्व भर की विविधताओं का एक निरंतर प्रवाह है और अपने में उन्हें एक समुद्र की तरह समेटता भी है, उसकी पावन भूमी पर, "रंग और नूर" इ-काव्य संकलन, कनाडा में बसे हिंदी और उर्दू के रचनाकारों द्वारा विश्व भर के हिंदी और उर्दू के पाठकों और कविता प्रेमियों के लिए एक नया प्रयास है।
Canada is a land of a continuous flow of world's diversity and also a vast ocean that contains it within, in a constant celebration. "RANG AUR NOOR (Colours & Radiance)" is a part of that diversity . It is a new attempt to show case and make available for reading, the colour and radiance of Urdu and Hindi verse to a global audience of these lan-guages from the writers of Hindi and Urdu, residing on the Canadian soil. This is an e-collection of some of the select-ed poetic talent of Canada.
Diversity, the essence of Canada, positions it uniquely in the world culture. Immigrants from various nations arrive here and they bring a pool of vast heritage of their living styles, arts, literature and culture which gives Canada an immense richness of variety. RANG AUR NOOR e- book of verse in Hindi & Urdu is an attempt to spread that es-sence to all and sundry. It is the essence of the rainbow of the varied experiences and the imagination of the creative writer of Hindi & Urdu which he/she wants to share with the readers. Hindi & Urdu are like twin sister languages who have grown together and at the same time they are the two sides of a coin too. Both are rich and wide in their elemental ex-pressions.
Canada has many prestigious writers/poets who's writings are making a place in the hearts of many readers worldwide. This e-collection is a small step to reach out to a wider audience on a global platform. Internet now has become an important segment of everyday life. This e-book can reach any one any where in seconds. Keeping this in mind this e-book is being published and is being available. Readers can enjoy it any time any where. This is our first endeavor of this kind and we plan to come up with many e-books of poetry/stories/novels/essays etc. in future as well. We thank all the creative writers who participated in this e-collection. Without their support this could not have been possible. We also congratulate them for being a part of this. We immensely thank Ms. Marian Kutarna and Mississauga Library System for encouraging this pro-ject and creating a space for RANG AUR NOOR (Colours and Radiance) in the diaspora of Canadian literary arts. Nasim Syed, Meena Chopra , Anil Purohit
Read: HERE
Represented Canada in July 2021 on the 'online session' of this high powered International Symposium about cultural identities in the contemporary artistic context as CHROMATIC MEANDERING. My art piece, "ADRIFT A SEA OF HIDDEN FIRE" and a paper "EXPLORATION OF SELF IN THE SPECTRUM OF GLOBAL IDENTITY" with a Canadian view point.