But why is the poet in pain?

The year was 1997. Shimla was hosting a state-level kavi sammelan and Lahaul-Spiti had drawn a blank. And it became, what they call, a prestige issue for Ajey Kumar and he decided to participate with 'Gaon Mein Chakka Talai', a poem he had penned 12 year ago, at a rain shelter near Tandi bridge in Lahaul. Of dusty roads, streets of concrete, the truck that ferries vegetables to big mandis, crushing little dreams, small joys — Of development, which when scratched a little, tells tales of sore hearts and numb souls.
He was 20 then and headed to college in Chandigarh. Upset over what the development model was doing to his region, the words had flowed out. He improved upon the poem for the meet and has since stayed an important chapter in his journey. The fifty-year-old is today hailed as the first real Hindi poet from the tribal Lahaul-Spiti district. One who has been taken note of from amongst the few in the region. One who has stayed true to where he belongs. Born in Sumnam village in Lahaul, Ajey's poems have essentially been about what he notices, specifically about how the outside affects the inside. That is what makes 'Gaon Mein Chakka Talai' central to his works in more ways than one.
Ajey has spent a good time of life in Lahaul-Spiti, the tribal district that shares its border with China, his initial schooling and his first job; in his own words: "my childhood and my age of ideological maturity." He remembers long walks with his mother to the water mills, to gompas, walking several kilometres to attend weddings, funerals, walking 20 kms to the hospital when he would be ill, of mother carrying him on his back when he would feel tired, the songs of pain she would sing to him as they rested beside a pool of water — those strains from brass flutes that enlivened celebrations, the stimulating beats of the drum. "All these have always haunted my subconscious. Endless memories, of struggle, beauty, romance, festivities, adversities, dreams and nightmares. These reflect in my poems, even in the ones written at later stages," he says.
But things are different in Lahaul now. "Roads, power, water, schools, helicopters, hospitals, tourism, religion, projects, tunnels, market. Even as the pace of change has been slower than on the other side of Rohtang, there is a strong undercurrent," he says and admits that it is this undercurrent that gives the poet in him sleepless nights. "Lahaul has lost its chastity, its tranquility, its existence. I don't know where do youth of Lahaul want to cross over to? The poet in me is hurt and shocked. My poetry is immensely affected by this turmoil. It is born of this dilemma."
As a poet you seem both pining for outside influence on Lahul and pained by it too. Why is that so, we ask. "Well, that is quite natural. "Ideologically, I am a progressive person. Exposure is necessary for Lahaul's all-round development and proper growth. We are in a phase of transition. Lot of giving out and taking in is going on. There are so many things in the outside world that have to be learnt. But in the process, Lahaul is going to lose certain precious value systems and inimitable lifestyle and 'sanskaras' forever. That's what pains me," he says.
Why Himachal lags in literature?
To those who ask why Himachal is nowhere on the literary map of India, he says, "The common refrain has been: 'We don't have a powerful lobby of critics and publishers.' But that might not be the only reason. Firstly, we have never had a fair number of local readers. We have been writing for readers from UP, MP and Bihar. So, I presume it might have been a bit hard for Himachali writers to catch up with the linguistic mood and tone of these readers/critics. To be more precise, we don't have a good command over the language we are writing in because it's not our mother tongue. We lack in treatment somewhere," he says.
Poetic oeuvre
Ajey Kumar hails from village Suman in Lahaul. At present industrial promotional officer with the department of industries, Himachal government, his major anthology of poems is 'Is Kavita Ko Kaun Gayega'. His works have published in major Hindi literary publications and a couple of poems of his have been translated to Bangla, Marathi, Nepali and English