To Naina Devi by Kulwant Singh Gill is really a beautiful poem which we have got it luckily on the eve of Bhagabati Puja. Kulwant Singh Gill who used to teach English in the department of journalism, language and culture of Punjab Agriculture Univ., Ludhiana was really a famous poet. To read it on the occasion of is to really get the blessing showered upon indirectly. The poem under our perusal is from Beyond the Spectrum collection of Poems which appeared from Writers Workshop, Calcutta in 1990. The myth of Naina Devi he tells us and weaves it hereunder this poem. Who is Naina Devi? How is it the sacred spot of Sati? 

An expert on Aldous Huxley, his articles used to come out in the Tribune too. A poet from the Punjab, he was but a deserving one.   

The unresolving myth behind, mystery behind Sati, Uma; he tries to resolve it. What did Sati do? How was Siva so repentant and inconsolably wandering into? Starry-eyed, Uma incarnate is Naina Devi. People come from far seeking blessings.

Her shrine is atop the hill where the people go singing in chorus, praying, devotionally. Let the Divine Mother be their guide!

But the mortals lost in their daily trifles, humdrum and monotony of life fail to keep their piety intact. They have a world of their own, a mortal world to suffice and they cannot rise above petty considerations of human lust and greed. Worldly care and anxiety hang heavy upon them, and they feel it the world is too much with them.

But all is not lost. The shrine shines through the crescent moonlight and when the western  wind blows it. The crescent moon appears to be like the lovelorn Mahadeva gazing at. At that time  all and sundry, we mean the guys and local folks feel it down the spine, the undercurrents of the hearsay.

Starry-eyed Sati, Uma reincarnate—
Solitary, steadfast, serene,
Like the peerless pole-star,
You beckon
Millions
Engaged in wormy strife
On the stormy seas of transient life.

Up they come
Singing in chorus
Hymns to your pious praise
Seeking haven at your ever-open gate
From the tumult of tiresome fate.

Again…
They descend the concentric steps
To their desire-stricken, burning hell
Thirsting and pining
Crying and laughing
Like insatiated spirits
Under the necromancer’s spell.

In the dark, tender night
When the cool, western wind
Caresses your white abode
And the crescent moon
Looks like love-lorn Mahadeva
Gazing fondly at your supernal face,
The mortals look up
And feel assured
That all is not lost,
That devotion is still the way to grace.

The poet tells about the location of the hilly temple and the scenic surroundings, the concentric steps leading to the temple gate and the myth of Siva-Sati story. Why has it been named Naina Devi? How has faith drawn people? A Shakti-pitha, where the bodily part of Sati had fallen, it is famous for the eyes which have on the spot. The lovelorn wandering of Siva adds beauty to the poem.