MICROCOSM OF RAHIM'S METAPHORIC MIGHT

Chandan Sinha's Abundant Sense is a collection of Rahim's selected couplets that hold oceans of meaning—braiding Bhakti, Riti, and Niti into lyrical wisdom, where metaphors illuminate life wisdom, and poetry serves as the carrier of timeless human truths

- SANJEEV CHOPRA

Deeragh doha arath ke, aakhar thore aahin, Jyon Rahim Nat Kundali, simti kudi charhi jahin Couplets comprise a few letters, but hold abundant sense, As the crouching acrobat, Rahim springs atop the fence!

This iconic two-line verse has two significant words 'abundant sense', which also give the volume its eponymous name. This is also reflective of each of the 144 dohas, which form part of this offering. A 'doha' literally translates itself into 'two lines', but as Chandan Sinha explains in the introduction, there is something very special about the structure. The lines rhyme, and each line has twenty four phonetic units called 'Matras': hence, not all couplets are dohas. The central message of a 'doha' - the rhyme induced surprise (John Hawley) seals the impact of the couplet with a figure of speech - most commonly a metaphor, and sometimes also an alliteration or assonance.