RAM KRISHNA SINGH

About Me

Ram Krishna Singh is a university professor whose main fields of interest consist of Indian English writing, especially poetry, and English for Specific Purposes, especially for science and technology. He was born on 31 December 1950 in Varanasi, India. Apart from a BA earned in 1970, he gained his MA in English Literature from Banaras Hindu University in 1972 and Ph D from Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi, in 1981. He also obtained a Diploma in Russian in 1972. Dr Singh started his career in journalism, as a Compilation Officer in the District Gazetteers Department, Lucknow, 1973, and a Journalist with the Press Trust of India, New Delhi, 1973-74. Changing to teaching he became a Lecturer at the Royal Bhutan Polytechnic, Deothang, Bhutan, 1974-76. Joining the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad as a Lecturer from 1976-83, he then rose to Assistant Professor in 1983 and full Professor and Head of the Institute’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences since 1993 to 2011. He is now Professor of English (HAG).

A reviewer, critic and contemporary poet who writes in Indian English, Dr. Singh is the author of more than 160 research articles and 175 book reviews. He has published 39 books, including: Savitri : A Spiritual Epic (Criticism, 1984); My Silence (poems, 1985); Sound and Silence (edited articles on Krishna Srinivas, 1986); Indian English Writing : 1981-1985 : Experiments with Expression (ed., 1987, rept. 1991); Using English in Science and Technology (textbook, 1988, rev. and rept, 2000); Recent Indian English Poets : Expressions and Beliefs (ed. 1992); Two Poets: R.K. Singh (I DO NOT QUESTION) Ujjal Singh Bahri (THE GRAMMAR OF MY LIFE) (poems, 1994); General English Practice (textbook, 1995); Anger in Action : Explorations of Anger in Indian Writing in English (ed.,1997); My Silence and Other Selected Poems : 1974-1994 (poems, 1996); Above the Earth’s Green (poems, 1997); Psychic Knot : Search for Tolerance in Indian English Fiction (ed., 1998); New Zealand Literature : Some Recent Trends (ed.,1998); Every Stone Drop Pebble (haiku, 1999); Multiple-Choice General English for UPSC Competitive Exams (textbook, 2001); Cover to Cover (poems, 2002). Pacem in Terris ( haiku, English and Italian, 2003), Communication : Grammar and Composition ( textbook, 2003), Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri : Essays on Love, Life and Death ( Critical articles, 2005), Teaching English for Specific Purposes : An Evolving Experience ( Research articles and review essays, 2005), Voices of the Present: Critical Essays on Some Indian English Poets (2006), The River Returns (tanka and haiku collection, 2006), English as a Second Language: Experience into Essays (ed. research articles, 2007), English Language Teaching: Some Aspects Recollected (ed. research articles, 2008), Sexless Solitude and Other Poems (2009), Mechanics of Research Writing (2010), Sense and Silence: Collected Poems (2010), New and Selected Poems Tanka and Haiku (2012), and I Am No Jesus and Other Selected Poems, Tanka and Haiku (2014). His works have been anthologized in about 160 publications, while his editorial activities extend to include guest-editing of Language Forum, 1986, 1995, and Creative Forum, 1991, 1997, 1998, besides being co-editor of the latter publication from 1987-90, General Editor of Creative Forum New Poets Series, and service on the editorial boards of Canopy, Indian Book Chronicle, Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Reflections, Titiksha, International Journal of Translation, Poetcrit, Impressions of Eternity (ie), and SlugFest. He has evaluated about 50 PhD theses from various universities. He has also edited the ISM Newsletter for about five years.

Friday, September 07, 2018

Peace

fishing peace
in the inner sea--
solitude

--R K Singh

Saturday, September 01, 2018

My haiku published in FAILED HAIKU, Issue #33, August 2018

My haiku used in FAILED HAIKU, Issue #33: http://www.haikuhut.com/FailedHaikuIssue33.pdf

pumpkin for dinner
she rues my preparation –
devil's shit

waking up
gloves ready for the catch –
unclaimed light

knee-deep in the pond
awaits fresh catch to buy milk
for the new-born

R K Singh

Sunday, August 26, 2018

POET RIKA INAMI TRANSLATES MY TANKA INTO JAPANESE

TANKA: R.K. SINGH, India　　　　　　　　　Translation: Rika Inami 稲美里佳

Stars on the earth

these glow worms I want to clasp

into hands and

offer to God as flowers

of my first obeisance

地上の星々のほたるを手に　我が初めての敬意の花とし神に捧げむ

the wine of love swells

in my vessel dark shadows

recede human dirt

between sound and silence greets

the joy and bliss of spirit

我が器の暗き影のなか　愛の葡萄酒が膨らみ　音と静けさが魂の喜びと祝福を迎えるあわいに　人の穢れよ退け

love's spirit descends

and melds into her body

lending it new life:

I'm amazed how the unknown

becomes one with her beauty

愛の霊は降りきて汝の体とまじりあい　そを新しき命に与えむ:　かくて　我　未知なるがもの如何にして汝の美と一つにならんとすかに驚かむ

a serpent twists

its head to face a dragon

on her shoulder:

their tails on breasts in water

swirl to cleanse my kiss on skin

蛇のとぐろよ　汝の肩にあらばその頭を龍に見せ　水中にあらば胸の上に尾を見せ　肌にあらば我が口づけを浄化せんと渦巻く

tears dry up

leaving no marks where her pain

ends and mine begins

on the face makeup damp

with aching sweat and cold sighs

涙は乾き　汝の痛みがやみ　汗と冷えた吐息で顔をじっとり濡らし　我が痛みが始ま

るところに　何らの跡を残さず

I thought I would make

tea for her but she was sleeping

I didn't wake up

our back faced each other

once again cold birthday

われは汝（な）のために茶を入れんと思いしが　汝（な）は眠り　われ覚めず　われらは背合わせとなり　再びの冷めた誕生日

smallness of the small

no sharing half-chewed betel--

mischievous whisper

in bed fuzzy sensation

of rudy lips that's no love

とるに足らないつまらないこと　檳榔を半分噛み分かち合うこともなし　―　愛の無いみだらな唇でベッドが乱れる感覚のなかでの　いたずらな囁き　

the tenuity

of her story like hearing

my own confession

without the priest I wonder

if I knew my true voice

我が真の声か否かを問う司祭もなく　我が告白を聞くかのごとく　汝の語りの薄きかな　

no one knows

when the sun will be clouded

or when it will rain

in Ramdhura

women and weather one

誰一人とし　いつ太陽が曇り　いつ雨が降るかは知らずランドーラの女と天気にては

a tidal wave

touches the shore to wipe

my naked footprints

and leaves behind some shells

pebbles and memories

潮の波は　岸に触れ我が素足の足跡をぬぐい　貝殻と小石と記憶を残し退きゆく

１１

near the railway track

she squats with hands on her knees

and hides her parts

in half-dark the naked truth

transforms nature into nude

線路近く　彼女は膝の上に手を置いて　うずくまり　裸の真実の半分を隠し　自然をむき出しの裸体に変える

half-painting:

palette and easel

collect dust

in the studio

pained silence of mother

半塗りの　パレットとイーゼル　ほこりは溜まっている　スタジオの中で　母の静けさを描いた　

dreams puzzling

smallness of waking

I can't live

the child's circumcision

promise of happiness

夢は目覚めの卑小さに戸惑い　子の割礼を　幸福の約束を　我為せず

turns off the mood

for prayer in the park

smelly underarm

of a fellow walker

running to reduce weight

公園の祈りのムードの消滅　… 脇の臭いウォーカー仲間が　減量のために走っている

choking air

in a walled colony:

two tired pigeons

perch on overhead tank

whisper pity on us

壁で囲まれたコロニーのなかの息詰まるような雰囲気　高架タンクに止まった2羽の疲れた鳩が　我々を憐み囁きかける

island of rubbish

home to cows, mosquitoes

and homeless mothers

speak wordlessly passersby

unzip to ease and move

ゴミの島　牛と蚊の家　ホームレスの母親たちは無言で行きずりの人に声をかけ　楽に動けるようににチャックを外す

the snail of traffic

near red light bikes zig-zag

on broken footpaths

at Bannerghatta Road

pedestrians seek safe refuge

蝸牛（かたつむり）のようなのろのろ交通…　バナーガッタ道路の壊れた歩道橋で　赤信号の頃　バイクはジグザグに動き　歩行者は安全な避難場所を捜す

health horoscope

planetary conspiracy:

rectal bleeding

not healing for months recur

backache with dying libido

健康占星術　惑星の陰謀はかくに：　直腸出血は　幾月も治癒ぜず再発し　死にかけた欲望をともなう腰痛に苦しむ

unemptied

the cup of remorse--

begging bowl

before the dumb deity

years of noisy silence

自責の念のカップは　空にならず…愚かなる神の前の鉢に　赦しを請いつつ　静寂ざわつき幾歳月

when change comes

things change they say--

sight beyond sight

in the wealthy vacuum

all is well with limping days

変化きたれば　事変わるとう ….大いなる空白のなか視界を越ゆる眺めは　みな　傷つきし片足引きずり日々歩み行くので良し

--Ram Krishna Singh, Dhanbad, India

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Haiku

post truth or fake news
hates odour of his urine--
self-invented lies

-- R.K.SINGH

Saturday, July 28, 2018

BLOOD MOON

Waking to a morning
tainted with prayers
on the toilet seat
nude nature waves a dull sun
smitten by the night's long eclipse

--R.K.Singh

Wednesday, July 04, 2018

LIES

No odysseys
underwater or space--
retreat within

writing poetry in bed
confronting words to evade
the dead or dying

timidity of body
its libidinal romps
and circuitous lies

--R K Singh