REVIEW OF "ROADS : A JOURNEY WITH VERSES" by Vandana Bhasin and Smitha Vishwanath
My Review of "Roads - A Journey With Verses" by Smitha Vishwanath and Vandana Bhasin :
"Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air. Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away.” — Carl Sandburg, from The Atlantic, March 1923. These words by one of my most favorite authors aptly describes this collection which Smitha and Vandana describe as "a journey with verses". Being both an avid reader and a poet myself, I understand and value the power of verses and really good poetry is infinite in its capacity to enthrall, excite and awe you. And to be honest, that kind of poetry is something rare, something worth cherishing.
Coming to "Roads", the book has been divided into three broad sections - "Courage, Wisdom, Serenity", "Love, Strength, Compassion" and "Joy, Hope, Gratitude" and this well thought of segmentation is something that actually appealed to me. And why it appealed to me so much was, the moment I had flipped through the content pages, I couldn't suppress a smile - I knew this book would be one that could cater to my varied moods and that's why I put it on the very top of the small stack of books I keep on my otherwise very tidy study table. My instinct told me this was a book worth reading and like most of the other times, my instinct wasn't wrong!
In "the conception of Roads", Smitha Vishwanath writes about how she left behind a banking career of twenty long years to begin with writing creatively and how she crossed paths with her co-author Vandana Bhasin. She ends with the line, "This book is serendipity", which I believe is very much true.
Smitha's creative flow becomes evident right from this introductory note which begins with a poem titled "Serendipity". It's a deeply metaphorical poem and immediately catches the reader's attention. To quote a few lines,
" I gazed enraptured at the twinkling beauties
And as I stared, they seemed to align, hundreds, in many straight lines
As if in respect for the erstwhile moon,
A mystery to me, how, they managed so soon.
The secret of the Universe, had been revealed to me
That night the stars had aligned -
For ME"
Vandana Bhasin meanwhile says that she had never fathomed of writing a book earlier and that her coming to know her "writing partner" Smitha, was also Destiny. She writes that writing is a therapeutic experience for her and gives her a deeper insight into the meaning of life.
What is common between both the writers is no doubt their powerful expression, command over the language and an inherently positive note in almost all of the poems.
But, on a deeper, critical probe into the individual poems does bring to light the difference in form, flow, expression and rhythm, elements that are always unique to each writer or poet.
Continuing with the rhetoric of Smitha Vishwanath, her poems, mostly in free verse (something that even I as a poet have always preferred, before experimenting with other forms of poetry) have a sublime flow that want you to keep reading even after the poem has ended and at times I ended up going back to reading the same poem all over again just to experience the emotions it had evoked in me, all over again. Smitha has her own way with words, she is indeed an alchemist who weaves magic with her verses and the power in her verses is something you simply can't help but notice and admire.
In the introductory section of the sub-section "COURAGE", she writes a poem that's made me fall in love with her emotional positivity and self confidence. Even though this is one of the poems from the very beginning of the book, it's one that I shall cherish and go back to reading again and again. To quote Smitha's verses
"I dare to make mistakes
I dare to ask for help
I dare to change
***
I dare to steer my ship in new waters
I dare to walk on uncharted paths
I dare to be different
I will learn
I will strengthen my wings
I will fly
Not with the fear of falling, but with the dream of soaring higher "
This very poem is enough and more to show what a fearless, positive, vibrant and daring poet Smitha Vishwanath is.
Another poem from the same sub-section "COURAGE", penned by Vandana Bhasin is worth due mention. In "Writer Vs. Woman", she expresses beautifully and powerfully, the strength of every woman, with varied use of imagery and attributes to depict the power of each woman born on this earth and concludes on a self-affirmative note. To quote a few lines from the poem,
"Weakest? Who? Me?
My words have the power to contest everyone
My views can stimulate and counter anyone
Do I need a better armor when words are my defence?"
***
"I produce more poems
I rear more writers
My verses breathe life in more women of my kind
I am as proud to be a writer, as I am to be a woman!"
These lines evoke the sheer self-confidence that Vandana Bhasin has in herself and her verses. One marked difference I noticed between Smitha's and Vandana's verses is, while both of them undoubtedly have a brilliant penmanship, Smitha's verses have a soothing flow that makes the reader one with the poet, taking the reader deep into the rhythm of the poems. On the other hand, Vandana's poems are more direct, they are kind of an eye-opener and compel the reader to think and rethink what she has so aptly penned down.
I have read the whole book, cover to cover and it has been a really enthralling experience but there are a few particular poems that I shall always remember and return back to, because they have strummed a few chords in my heart. To briefly mention a few:
In the sub-section WISDOM, becoming the collective voice of all women who are ready to dare, to fight back and not accept humiliation and manipulation as their fate, Vandana Bhasin, in "I Am the Heroine of My Life" writes,
"... Here I stand, refuting all allegations
Here I voice my fight against victimization
Here I squabble, claiming all my rights
Here I demand to not sympathize
***
I will not sacrifice in the name of feminism
I have the mettle to contest dogmatism
I have the acumen to argue against your dictum
For I am the heroine of my life, and not the victim"
Again in WISDOM as Smitha Vishwanath rightly puts it, that some relationships actually deserve another chance, to quote from her poem "Second Chance - when it's worth your life"
"It's a universal truth, not a blatant lie
Nobody is perfect, neither you, nor I
A second chance?
It's no big deal; if it ever made your heart dance
You know what I mean
***
Go ahead, and make another start
Life's simply too short -
Don't let go of what you've got
For, it's easy to break
But once, pause! Think how many years it took you to make."
Her writing is a spectrum of varied shades of emotions, intense in its flow and powerfully assertive.
Moving on to the sub-section COMPASSION, Smitha talks about the need to understand and empathize with someone undergoing depression in her deeply stirring and equally touching poem "Don't Say She Didn't Say". To quote from the poem,
"... You see the calm on her face
Of the storm brewing within her; you see no trace
If only someone could see the pain she tries to hide
Maybe if someone listened, she wouldn't have lied
Her vacant eyes tell a story that you don't read
To the sorrow in her voice, you don't pay any heed... "
Continuing with COMPASSION, Vandana talks about violence and social atrocities and the death of humanity in her vivid verses "My Elegy for Humanity" which ends on an earnest note, a plea, a call to humanity to rise anew :
"... I urge you earnestly, dear humanity
To consider rebirth, on this dismal Earth
For this world would be devastated in a trice
Without your genesis, to empathize."
And the book ends with a poem that sums up the essence of life in a beautiful manner with a poem by Smitha Vishwanath, "Life - a Maze" :
"On some days,
Life feels like a maze
I wander in a daze
And I simply wish I could erase
A note then, I remind myself
That it's all a passing phase
And I will find the way,
For a rainbow only follows a rainy day"
One thing in the book that caught my attention was that, before every poem, both the poets have written a short explanatory note regarding what the poem is about and I found this idea to be quite an innovative one.
All in all, to put it in a nutshell, this compilation of poems is one of the most beautiful, brilliant and promising ones I have ever come across. The poems are wide and rich in variety and composition and both the prolific poets Smitha Vishwanath and Vandana Bhasin have created a commendable work of art, worth cherishing, reading and rereading. What actually is the icing on the cake is the spirit of self confidence, positivity and optimism both of them have maintained in almost all of the poems. And this delightful platter of poems would be the perfect read for any lover of literature. Very few poets have made an impression on my mind and both Smitha and Vandana have managed to do that remarkably well. This collection now remains one of my all-time favorites.
Ratings:
Composition : 4.8/5
Rhythm, synchronization, imagery, metaphor, language - 4.6/5
Interior presentation: 4.3/5
Cover design : 3.5/5
Overall rating : 4.5/5
##################
Review by Samrudhi Dash (Inara) 💜
"Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air. Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away.” — Carl Sandburg, from The Atlantic, March 1923. These words by one of my most favorite authors aptly describes this collection which Smitha and Vandana describe as "a journey with verses". Being both an avid reader and a poet myself, I understand and value the power of verses and really good poetry is infinite in its capacity to enthrall, excite and awe you. And to be honest, that kind of poetry is something rare, something worth cherishing.
Coming to "Roads", the book has been divided into three broad sections - "Courage, Wisdom, Serenity", "Love, Strength, Compassion" and "Joy, Hope, Gratitude" and this well thought of segmentation is something that actually appealed to me. And why it appealed to me so much was, the moment I had flipped through the content pages, I couldn't suppress a smile - I knew this book would be one that could cater to my varied moods and that's why I put it on the very top of the small stack of books I keep on my otherwise very tidy study table. My instinct told me this was a book worth reading and like most of the other times, my instinct wasn't wrong!
In "the conception of Roads", Smitha Vishwanath writes about how she left behind a banking career of twenty long years to begin with writing creatively and how she crossed paths with her co-author Vandana Bhasin. She ends with the line, "This book is serendipity", which I believe is very much true.
Smitha's creative flow becomes evident right from this introductory note which begins with a poem titled "Serendipity". It's a deeply metaphorical poem and immediately catches the reader's attention. To quote a few lines,
" I gazed enraptured at the twinkling beauties
And as I stared, they seemed to align, hundreds, in many straight lines
As if in respect for the erstwhile moon,
A mystery to me, how, they managed so soon.
The secret of the Universe, had been revealed to me
That night the stars had aligned -
For ME"
Vandana Bhasin meanwhile says that she had never fathomed of writing a book earlier and that her coming to know her "writing partner" Smitha, was also Destiny. She writes that writing is a therapeutic experience for her and gives her a deeper insight into the meaning of life.
What is common between both the writers is no doubt their powerful expression, command over the language and an inherently positive note in almost all of the poems.
But, on a deeper, critical probe into the individual poems does bring to light the difference in form, flow, expression and rhythm, elements that are always unique to each writer or poet.
Continuing with the rhetoric of Smitha Vishwanath, her poems, mostly in free verse (something that even I as a poet have always preferred, before experimenting with other forms of poetry) have a sublime flow that want you to keep reading even after the poem has ended and at times I ended up going back to reading the same poem all over again just to experience the emotions it had evoked in me, all over again. Smitha has her own way with words, she is indeed an alchemist who weaves magic with her verses and the power in her verses is something you simply can't help but notice and admire.
In the introductory section of the sub-section "COURAGE", she writes a poem that's made me fall in love with her emotional positivity and self confidence. Even though this is one of the poems from the very beginning of the book, it's one that I shall cherish and go back to reading again and again. To quote Smitha's verses
"I dare to make mistakes
I dare to ask for help
I dare to change
***
I dare to steer my ship in new waters
I dare to walk on uncharted paths
I dare to be different
I will learn
I will strengthen my wings
I will fly
Not with the fear of falling, but with the dream of soaring higher "
This very poem is enough and more to show what a fearless, positive, vibrant and daring poet Smitha Vishwanath is.
Another poem from the same sub-section "COURAGE", penned by Vandana Bhasin is worth due mention. In "Writer Vs. Woman", she expresses beautifully and powerfully, the strength of every woman, with varied use of imagery and attributes to depict the power of each woman born on this earth and concludes on a self-affirmative note. To quote a few lines from the poem,
"Weakest? Who? Me?
My words have the power to contest everyone
My views can stimulate and counter anyone
Do I need a better armor when words are my defence?"
***
"I produce more poems
I rear more writers
My verses breathe life in more women of my kind
I am as proud to be a writer, as I am to be a woman!"
These lines evoke the sheer self-confidence that Vandana Bhasin has in herself and her verses. One marked difference I noticed between Smitha's and Vandana's verses is, while both of them undoubtedly have a brilliant penmanship, Smitha's verses have a soothing flow that makes the reader one with the poet, taking the reader deep into the rhythm of the poems. On the other hand, Vandana's poems are more direct, they are kind of an eye-opener and compel the reader to think and rethink what she has so aptly penned down.
I have read the whole book, cover to cover and it has been a really enthralling experience but there are a few particular poems that I shall always remember and return back to, because they have strummed a few chords in my heart. To briefly mention a few:
In the sub-section WISDOM, becoming the collective voice of all women who are ready to dare, to fight back and not accept humiliation and manipulation as their fate, Vandana Bhasin, in "I Am the Heroine of My Life" writes,
"... Here I stand, refuting all allegations
Here I voice my fight against victimization
Here I squabble, claiming all my rights
Here I demand to not sympathize
***
I will not sacrifice in the name of feminism
I have the mettle to contest dogmatism
I have the acumen to argue against your dictum
For I am the heroine of my life, and not the victim"
Again in WISDOM as Smitha Vishwanath rightly puts it, that some relationships actually deserve another chance, to quote from her poem "Second Chance - when it's worth your life"
"It's a universal truth, not a blatant lie
Nobody is perfect, neither you, nor I
A second chance?
It's no big deal; if it ever made your heart dance
You know what I mean
***
Go ahead, and make another start
Life's simply too short -
Don't let go of what you've got
For, it's easy to break
But once, pause! Think how many years it took you to make."
Her writing is a spectrum of varied shades of emotions, intense in its flow and powerfully assertive.
Moving on to the sub-section COMPASSION, Smitha talks about the need to understand and empathize with someone undergoing depression in her deeply stirring and equally touching poem "Don't Say She Didn't Say". To quote from the poem,
"... You see the calm on her face
Of the storm brewing within her; you see no trace
If only someone could see the pain she tries to hide
Maybe if someone listened, she wouldn't have lied
Her vacant eyes tell a story that you don't read
To the sorrow in her voice, you don't pay any heed... "
Continuing with COMPASSION, Vandana talks about violence and social atrocities and the death of humanity in her vivid verses "My Elegy for Humanity" which ends on an earnest note, a plea, a call to humanity to rise anew :
"... I urge you earnestly, dear humanity
To consider rebirth, on this dismal Earth
For this world would be devastated in a trice
Without your genesis, to empathize."
And the book ends with a poem that sums up the essence of life in a beautiful manner with a poem by Smitha Vishwanath, "Life - a Maze" :
"On some days,
Life feels like a maze
I wander in a daze
And I simply wish I could erase
A note then, I remind myself
That it's all a passing phase
And I will find the way,
For a rainbow only follows a rainy day"
One thing in the book that caught my attention was that, before every poem, both the poets have written a short explanatory note regarding what the poem is about and I found this idea to be quite an innovative one.
All in all, to put it in a nutshell, this compilation of poems is one of the most beautiful, brilliant and promising ones I have ever come across. The poems are wide and rich in variety and composition and both the prolific poets Smitha Vishwanath and Vandana Bhasin have created a commendable work of art, worth cherishing, reading and rereading. What actually is the icing on the cake is the spirit of self confidence, positivity and optimism both of them have maintained in almost all of the poems. And this delightful platter of poems would be the perfect read for any lover of literature. Very few poets have made an impression on my mind and both Smitha and Vandana have managed to do that remarkably well. This collection now remains one of my all-time favorites.
Ratings:
Composition : 4.8/5
Rhythm, synchronization, imagery, metaphor, language - 4.6/5
Interior presentation: 4.3/5
Cover design : 3.5/5
Overall rating : 4.5/5
##################
Review by Samrudhi Dash (Inara) 💜
Comments
Post a Comment