Celebrating Nissim Ezekiel: Daughter and poet Kavita talks about his rich legacy

ldquoPeace at all costsrdquohellipIn my fatherrsquos mantraI find peaceIn all languages peace is peaceShanti Paz Pace Shalom PaixrdquoPoet and educator Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca invokes her father in her poem lsquoPeace at All Costsrsquo When we ask her about some of her fondest memories of him she promptly inquires ldquoJust one or twordquo The late poet Nissim Ezekiel who passed away in 2004 is remembered today through the many ways he touched peoplersquos lives Some knew him as a mentor some as a friend most grew up reading his poems reciting the words of Night of the Scorpion in Indian classrooms Literature students studied his work further in their lectures They would remember him as one of the pioneers of modern Indian poetryin EnglishKavita with Daisy and Nissim right Nissim Ezekiel at The Poetry Circle session Pic CourtesyMenka ShivdasaniTo Kavita his eldest daughter he was most of all ldquoa gentle father who never complainedrdquo and always encouraged his childrenrsquos interests Kavita loved music The Ezekiels played it on their Philips turntable recorder which he had purchased ldquoWe would listen to The Mamas and The Papasrdquo once even winning an album as an award for a quiz on the radio Ezekiel would walk briskly to the letterbox close to their Breach Candy home so that ldquoher postcard with the answer got there promptly Daddy loved his childrenrdquo Ezekiel loved all children In a poem lsquoThose Bombay Sundaysrsquo Kavita recalls the early days of the blackandwhite TV when all the little ones from the neighbourhood would line up to watch the sixoclock Hindi movie with him lsquoDaddy hellipkept a few handkerchiefs readyfor the ones with the runny noseshellipldquoPlease come againrdquo he responded to their thanksrsquoTo honour him on his 100th birth anniversary this year Canadabased Kavita has curated an anthology titled NissimEzekiel Poet and Father Pippa Rann Books amp Media It is a compilation of tributes in the form of essays interviews poems and photographs shared by those who had met worked with or studied under him ldquoI wrote to several people Some replied some didnrsquot I sent a set of questions to those who wrote to mehellip just to get them startedrdquo she shares Ezekielrsquos legacy echoes in the works of many poets and academics like Gieve Patel Adil Jussawalla Menka Shivdasani Jeet Thayil and Shanta Acharya who contributed to the book and began their journey much after himThe Ezekiel family watches a playFrom the 1970s to the 1990s English poetry flourished in Bombay now Mumbai ldquoAt his Indian PEN office in New Marine Lines my father would leave his doors open to young poets and studentsrdquo Kavita recalls It would become a meeting space for The Poetry Circle an initiative cofounded by Shivdasani Akil Contractor and Nitin Mukadam in 1986 to encourage young poets Instead of the usual circulars through which one was informed of the meetings now there was an understanding among the members of the circle that every second Saturday one was to gather at Ezekielrsquos office He was a regular at the readings At one of them he wrotelsquoStop praising me my friendsLet me learnto live without teachinguntil I find my soulmdashor even lose iton that different roadrsquoA Bene Israeli Thanksgiving feast by Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca to be served at Nissimrsquos birth anniversary Pics CourtesyKavita Ezekiel MendoncaldquoI owe him a great deal I was 16 when I first met himrdquo recalls Shivdasani who found a lifelong mentor and friend in him Ezekiel loved Bombay ldquoIt was home to my father He never wanted to leaverdquo says Kavita ldquoI have the same emotional connection to it as my father had and that Bombay will always be my home I was born and raised there Itrsquos hard for me to say Mumbairdquo She reminisces about the time she spent with him in the city From their house they would ldquowalk to the ice cream store We would call it the Irani store We also visited the Hanging Gardens frequently on holidays My father loved to walk After work from his office at the Theosophy Hall he would walk to the Churchgate station and pick up midday and bring it back for usrdquo She adds ldquoHe never forced us to read anything but he insisted that we read the newspaper He would say ldquoYou have to know whatrsquos happening in the real worldrdquo A 2021 news article in midday by features editor Fiona Fernandez which explored Kavitarsquos collaboration with poetarchitect Mustansir Dalvi for the Marathi translations of two of Ezekielrsquos poems and an ode to him forms part of the anthologyKavita Ezekiel MendoncaThe collection contains photographs including many of the Ezekiels In one the family is seated to watch a play the four attendees are grandma Diana Kalpana Kavitarsquos sibling Kavita and Ezekiel They sit close to each other mdash an older woman in the background seems to identify the man in the suit and peeks from behind taken in by his dignified presence In another from a wedding young Ezekiel sits with a knee resting on the floor the other raised above balancing little Kavita Her head rests comfortably against his chest In all it is hard to miss his quiet demeanour He smiles ldquogently from his fragile glassesrdquo and one can almost hear him whisper to us peace at all costsAvailable on AmazonAttend Remembering Nissim Ezekiel Poetry reading and conversations about the bard organised by the literary club of the Asiatic Society of MumbaiON Monday December 16 5 pmAT Durbar Hall The Asiatic Society of Mumbai Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg FortFREE