[Najeeb kanthapuram, A journalist from Kerala who emphasized the humanism embedded in EGOPTICS and the overall influence of Iqbal and Rumi seen in the book]
Jaihoon has been able to create admirers around the globe within a short span of time.
Personally speaking, I feel very proud to take part in this multi-ethnic event held at the heart of Sharjah. Because the publication of this book took place in an extra-ordinary manner.
With the quick efforts of the prestigious Olive Publications, it is a wonder that within a two-month time period, EGOPTICS was published.
In EGOPTICS, Jaihoon is appealing to the soul of humanity. His verses are a wake-up call for the fading humanism in today’s world. It is indeed a matter of pride for us that his humble efforts made this possible.
A French philosopher says that modern world is deflating the price of everything. Man, nation, race, Woman… including death. In this era when everything is losing their values, it is a source of solace that a writer from the present generation has dared to talk about values. I cannot help calling Jaihoon’s work a flow of the fascinating philosophy of Allama Iqbal and scintillating poetry of Rumi.
In reality, his writings are not speaking to our hearts. Rather I feel it is penetrating through the closed doors of our souls. Jaihoon the poet has developed an insight to the problems of modern times at a very young age. This is evident from the very first poem of the book- A tender hand.
The present world is in need of a tender hand
That would reach out to everyone.
A hand that is clean from the wrinkles
Of hate and prejudice;
With the true embodiment of humanism,
One should be able to bring back the smile
That has been stolen from the innocent.
There should be an end
To the violence and extremism.
The world awaits a human hand
To knit all the broken hearts…
The fragrance of Malabar locked up in the depth of his heart often appears in the writings of Jaihoon. And I believe such thoughts are cherished by the poems of Umar Qazi, the mystic poet. It is a This young poet has delved into the underlying beauty of Qazi’s poetry in his very childhood. His poems create a homely sentiment in the hearts of an expatriate. When you read this book while seated here, it will influence you more than we reading it seated back at home country. It goes to the credit of his works to beautifully depict the pains of an expatriate separated from his homeland.
Keralites have many blessed writers. Like Kamala Surayya, many write in English. But it is a sad reality that many valuable works of Malayalam writers do not get translated into English. Except a few like Vaikom Mohammed Basheer and MT Vasudevan Nayar, it is rare to see Malayalam works translated into other languages.
Writers like Jaihoon can bring an end to this gap. As a professional in the marketing sector, Jaihoon has been able to promote the the dreams and expectations of Malayalam to an universal audience. He has beautifully expressed our ambitions and translated them into English language.
As Kahlil Gibran said, ‘Truth is like stars. It will not appear except from the cover of night’. In fact, Jaihoon’s poems give us this experience.
May Allah bless all the literary endeavors of this young poet to enlighten the dark world. May this little light against the present darkness prevail for long!
[mejsaudio src=”http://jaihoon.com/studio/mp3/najeebkanthapuram.mp3″]
Summarized transcript of speech by Najeeb Kanthapuram at the release function of Egoptics, first book by Jaihoon