Madhushala is a classic poetry book written by the renowned and revered poet Shri Harvansh Rai in 1935 (Bachchan 2003). The poetic narrative symbolises life as a tavern or a public drinking place. These are incidentally known as bars and pubs now-a-days, though one still comes across taverns in many parts of the world.

This highly metaphorical work is still popular for its philosophical and spiritual undertones. The ‘spiritual’ part has a double entendre—spirituality and philosophy about life and living and the ‘spirit’ as in alcoholic beverages.

In the postscript (Bachchan 2003), Shri Bachchan, confesses he was a teetotaller, and had learnt so much about drinking, drunks and taverns through his experiences in his (then 27 or 28 years) of life. It seems he had seen enough in his youth to pen down this marvel. He wonders how Freud would interpret his views and writings. Whether the poet [and everyone] has an unconscious desire to drink and get bliss and enjoy or forget life or the verses reflect his subconscious. Madhushala was published first around 1934 or 1935, a period when Freudian psychoanalysis was at its zenith. It may be difficult to speculate how long the poet was preoccupied with the thoughts which were penned down as Madhushala. Thus, on one hand, Madhushala symbolises the philosophical and spiritual meanings, on the other hand, one could examine it's psychoanalytical and psychodynamic reflections and undercurrents. What is considered psychosexual in psychodynamics, is romanticism in poetry, or chayawad in Hindi literature. I am sure many intuitive and introspective persons during that Freudian era would have had such thoughts cross their minds.

Though the popular interpretation of Madhushala is a tavern or an alehouse, literally it could also mean a sweet [as honey for madhu] home or a school [shala] of sweetness. Psychodynamically, there can be multiple interpretations. One could defend this interpretation, by endorsing the lessons the poem has, like one would learn in a shala or school [of life]. Madhushala is a university of knowledge about life and living. For example, a person drifts and seeks a path, and the poet suggests him to pick a path and keep walking and the person will reach his destination—the madhushala. These are my interpretations, to impose mature defense mechanisms. The poet proposed that there are ways to find happiness in suffering and lost memories intoxicated with pain. A verse says that life is short, how much love can one give and how much can one drink? The poem poignantly reflects on life and death—‘they say, “he departs,” at the very moment that he is born. While he is being welcomed, I have seen his farewell being prepared.’ The poet prefers to endorse truth of life, and the art of living rather than salvation of soul.

Madhushala also depicts the rebel in us and the poet, as the poet prefers the drunkard to be called as one who is intoxicated with life. Here he says that only those people can reach their destination, who have dealt with everything in life and who have surpassed all the wrong things in life. ‘Who have left all wrong people behind and who are ready to give up all wrong doings?’. Does one sense a sense of guilt or projection here, or is it about morality?

In the book, the poet says that the journey to your destination can be extremely difficult. And it might discourage you but that is what you shouldn’t be. ‘You should be brave enough to fight this and stand still until you reach your destination. A goal, we should always have a goal in our life, which we should follow. As everyone has a goal and if not, they will be misguided by wrong persons and would wander here and there wasting time.’ It teaches self-confidence and instils self-reflection.

The poem has different meaning for each of his readers. Love, Beauty, Pain, Sorrow and Death have been discussed very well in the poem. Psychoanalytically, each is heavily loaded with multiple interpretations, metaphors and symbolism. In turn, the poetry has many lessons and gyan for mental health and well-being, death and dying, pain and suffering, relationships, and the purpose of life.

Personally, I have read this poetry book many times, interpreted it differently, each and every time, and I must admit, I still do not truly understand the true meaning of these verses. Being a teetotaller and a mental health professional, I was shocked when I first read it, to find the poet endorsing drinking and having fun as a drunkard. I knew something was amiss in my understanding the message and like life and living, understood the poet’s point of view, in my subsequent readings of the book. The many interpretations were quite like one encounters in psychodynamics—it may be my projection, displacement, reaction formation, regression or transcendence! With my current interest in spirituality, I can see only spiritual lessons emerging from this book. If I was in the habit of drinking alcohol, I would have enjoyed each verse like a peg of whiskey or a can of beer. I have not the faintest idea of the joy of these!

Now, a bit about this issue of the journal. The issue maintains its international coverage and has articles from Sweden, User-Focused Monitoring as a Strategy for Involvement and Mental Health Service Development: An Analysis of Swedish Monitoring Reports; Japan, Measuring Community Participation Among Japanese with Serious Mental Illnesses; Canada, The Role of Work in Recovery from Anxiety or Mood Disorders: An Integrative Model Based on Empirical Data; the United Kingdom, Clinician and Patient Experience of Internet-Mediated Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy, and Italy. Views of Mental Health Professionals on Positive Changes in Service Practices and staff-user relationships after 1 year of Covid-19 pandemic. The shadow of the recent pandemic looms large over the contributions submitted to the journal.

There are also rich contributions from India, on diverse topics like Hybrid Supported Employment Approach for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in India: Evidence Based Case Studies; Psychosocial Rehabilitation of Persons with Severe Mental Disorders in Rural South India: Learnings from Step Project; Profile of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Centres for Persons with Substance Use Disorders in Bengaluru, Self-Efficacy and Quality of Life of Mothers of Children with Cerebral Palsy: The Effect of Multi Intervention Package; Need for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Training for Mental Health Professionals, and finally, Recreation for Psychosocial Rehabilitation of Clients with Mental Health Disorders. These contributions reflect the advances being made in psychosocial rehabilitation, within the country.