Book Review
Title: Heartfelt
Symphonies
Author: Chinmayee Gayatree
Sahu
Format: PDF E-book
All genuine art is a longing
to transcend the self. Chinmayee Gayatree Sahu’s poems articulate that longing
eloquently and evocatively. Heartfelt Symphonies is a collection of 40
poems divided into three groups entitled Nature, Fire and Life. The first two
poems act as a kind of invocation of the divine. Interestingly, the very first
poem, ‘Devi’, is an assertion of the divinity of the feminine as much as it is
an invocation of goddess Durga. “Look around and you shall see HER (goddess) in
each feminine body,” the poet asserts vehemently. It is also interesting to
note that the second poem is an invocation of Shiva, the potent male
counterpart of Durga. We meet Shiva’s various avatars here: Adiyogi,
Ardhanariswara, the Tandav dancer, and Neelkantha.
The
tremendous energy possessed by these two deities suffuses the remaining poems
all of which are thoroughly secular and worldly. A ubiquitous form of energy in
the entire collection is an urge to merge into a higher being which is what
transcendence means. “YOU are the ocean where I want to merge, / to dance like
the waves is my strongest urge,” the poet says in ‘Dancing Waves’. The poet
longs to be a wave in the ocean, a part of the infinity, while at the same time
there is ample evidence that the YOU (the upper case belongs to the poet) is
also a human lover whose glance sets the poet persona on a high tide.
This dual
longing for merging into the infinity as well as with a human lover is the
essence of Chinmayee’s poems. Human love has its inevitable limitations and
imperfections and the poet is acutely aware of it. Many of the poems are about
broken love, “cracks in the heart” [‘Rain Drops’], and longing for a healing
hug [‘Winter is Here’]. But there is no place for frustration or capitulation here.
The poet bounces back after each setback. The woods may be dark but there are
always “rays of hope” penetrating the “thickest canopy”.
If the Nature
poems employ metaphors and images from nature, the Fire poems rely on the
evocative power of light. This section brings us the light of kindness, the
cheerfulness of carpe diem [‘Cheers to the Bonfire’], and acceptance of
imbalances and imperfections. There is a steely determination
To
withstand the pain,
To
tolerate the suffering,
To rise
from the puddle of rejection,
To fight
every voice that tries to judge,
To
resolve to get up after every fall,
To look
into the eyes of the fear,
To
enable me to keep my head high above my shoulder
[‘The Fire Within’]
In the last
section titled ‘Life’, we come across some of the finest poems of the
collection. Presenting a woman who sold her soul to the commerce of
contemporary obsession with the female body, the poet shows how such an
obsession will lead one to sure self-destruction. “How dumb she was, busy to
impress and not express / how foolish she was to give in to the fad and
undress!” [‘Beauty for notifications’]
Chinmayee’s poetry
is extracted from raw experiences of life. The lines carry both light and
darkness, love and rejection, hope and despair. But the good side always wins
in the end. Even when everything “seems like falling apart”, there is light at
the end of the tunnel if only you keep moving. [‘Look within, Look around’].
What really
strikes one about Chinmayee’s poetry may be the veneer of mysticism that
glosses the dominant urge in it to merge into a larger reality in spite of the
possible rejections by that reality. After all, much of life lies in that grey
area “between the shadow and the soul” (Pablo Neruda’s phrase) and Chinmayee
succeeds in identifying the meaningful patterns which punctuate that area.
The collection can be downloaded here.
PS.
The above book is part of The
Blogchatter’s Ebook Carnival. My own contribution to it is – LIFE:
24 Essays.
I am touched sir🙏. And I am honoured! This means the world to me. Thank you for such words of appreciation . These poems were written over a long period of time and I am really elated that you liked my attempt at expressing myself through poetry. Immensely grateful.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes and more power to you.
DeleteA lovely review that kindles the interest of readers to read it..
ReplyDeleteThere's little good poetry nowadays. Chinmayee comes as a welcome breeze.
DeleteThis was a wonderful review. I'm always in awe of reviewers and how well they articulate their thoughts while reviewing a book.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Glad you liked it.
Delete