Whispers of the Self

Book Review

Title: The Journey of the Soul

Author: Dhanya Ramachandran

Publisher: Sahitya Publications, Kozhikode, 2025

Pages: 64

“In the whispers of the wind, I hear a gentle voice.” Dhanya Ramachandran’s poems are generally gentle voices like the whispers of the wind. The above line is from the poem ‘Seek’. There is some quest in most of the poems. As the title of the anthology suggests, most of the poems are inward journeys of the poet, searching for something or offering consolations to the self.

Darkness and shadows come and go, especially in the initial poems, like a motif. “In the darkness, shadows dance and play.” That’s how ‘Echoes of Agony’ begins. There are haunting memories, regrets, and sorrow in that poem. And a longing for solace. “Tears dry, but scars remain.”

Shadows are genial too occasionally. “Shadows sway to the wind’s soft sigh / As we stroll hand in hand beneath the sky…” (‘Moonlit Serenade’) The serenity of love is rare, however, in the collection. We encounter a maiden in distress more frequently: “A prisoner of love’s distorted tide” (‘Moonlit Rescue: A Tale f True Devotion’).

‘Forests of doubt’ and ‘deserts of fear’ (‘Seek’) override chirping birds with merry songs (‘The Little Bird’) and softly swirling rivers (‘River’). There is a crucible of pain lurking between the lines of most poems, one in which the poet persona “has been refined, / Tempered like steel…” (‘From Ashes to Light’).

A garden of joy makes its appearance like the sunlight that filters through the boughs in a forest. The poet persona is able to ascend to a mystic oneness with nature in such poems as ‘A Garden of Joy’ and ‘Om (Aum)-Mantra’.

‘Ruins’ is a poem that seeps into the depths of our consciousness with its rich symbolism and evocativeness. “Where once grandeur stood, now crumbling stones / Echoes of a bygone era whispers to the bones…” I was instantly reminded of Shelley’s famous poem, ‘Ozymandias’.

This slim volume of 40+ poems reveals a very promising poet whose journey into the soul is likely to go much further and deeper.

A note must be made on the production of the book. The binding and printing are of superb quality.

Dhanya Ramachandran