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An Outward Journey of Inward Exploration: Foreword |
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by Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar |
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The Symphony of A Soul (A Collection of Poems)
Poetry comes spontaneously to a sensitive person who soars up with imagination and captures some best moments of life, dreams, thoughts, ideas and emotions of different colours that beautify the portrait of his/her heart and mind where soul rests in peaceful bliss. As an inborn art of heart and soul, it needs no set of rules and norms as such. Even a single word or phrases, or lines, if emotionally and thoughtfully charged, can cause sparks that stir the inner world of readers. As a poetic prodigy, Akanksha Krishnatre is gifted with such power of appealing and evocating in us a deepened sense of life, heart and soul. She has brilliance of thoughts and excellence in the language and is all set to knock door at the poetic door of the literary world with her first collection of lovely poems entitled The Symphony of A Soul.. She has successfully poured out her intensely felt feelings and emotions. Her poetry has a range and variety as her poetry touches many aspects of experience- from individual to social and global. She is a great artist with beautiful words.
In the very beginning of the collection, she adds her own definition to the plethora of definitions of poetry before she takes us along with her to the realm of her poetic thoughts, ideas, feelings and emotions well woven in her poems. She lips-
Similarly in the poem “I” she expresses her poetic thoughts and perception. As a matter of fact, poetry has the power to touch one’s heart:
She adroitly employs many a metaphor to bring her point to explore riches of poetry. She calls it " wind cold", "the tranquillity of moon/In the Night starry sky", "lustre of Eyes/ Of a child just born", "xeric rose kept in books" of the people in love. With "pedestal of poetry." she uplifts her inner existence to the ethereal world of joy, happiness, love and beauty sparkling with brilliance of subtle thoughts and philosophic ideas.
"Poetry Divine" is yet another outstanding poetry summarizing the poetic creativity of the poet. Poetry, to her, is 'Brighter than sun / Higher than sky / Lighter than clouds'.....'Heavier than hill/More feverish than fire / Harder than diamond'...'Mightier than sword/More speckled than earth/More Versatile than carbon'. It is made of her mind, dreams in poetic lines.
With psychological probe into mind of the people, she comes up with her appealing poem entitled " The Demon Within: A Definition Of Anger". Like a matured poet with insights into human nature, she brings out the demonic aspect of a personality and fills the gap of negativity with positivity of life. She makes us alert against the onslaught of anger on our total well-being-
She exhorts us to fight against it till we have triumph over the demonic forces of our inner world-
"Untangling the Starlight" is another charming and appealing poem with a juxtaposition between hope and despair, reminiscences and oblivion, dawn and dusk, ebb and flow, dream and reality, existential reality and temporal duality. It mirrors obvious mood swings of a person disillusioned in the waste land. She encourages us to hold our heart in the hope of light and follow the path of humanity, getting connected with one and all in the cosmic family. She advocates-
Surrealistic approach to life is another beautiful dimension of her poetry. Concrete themes aside, subtle and abstract ideas find fantastic articulation in some of her poems. The poem "Broken" mirrors such a rare presentation of self, soul, and the dreams shattered. Delving deep into human psyche - 'dark depth'-, she conjures up a picturesque tapestry of poetic manifestation suffused with 'penumbra of joy' She concludes the poem with effortless ease-
Her poetic roller coaster ride takes us to the realm of the unexplored, dark and dungeon to demystify the fear of the unknown. She does her best inside her to kindle the light to see the reality to overcome the gripping awe of unreality. To her, living life means coping with the dark for floods of light till the last moment. This philosophy, very unique in its own way, gets reflected in her poem “Shadows of Darkness". She herself asks the question and concludes with a very significant, introspective reply.
Enthusiasm is indispensable in life to live each and every moment. Zeal for living and zest for life plays an important role in the inner progression of an individual. Many of her poems are optimistic and ebullient in content and intent.. She believes in constant struggle to achieve success in life- the success hued in all colours. With a great vision in her mind, she, through "Your Wings", suggests the people to-
She goes on exhorting -
Destiny, luck, misfortune, tragedy do recur in her poetry as subtle themes. Sometimes she takes side of all of them and sometimes she stands upright to cope with the unexpected events of life. So unpredictability as a theme comes spontaneously, subconsciously or subconsciously in some of her poems. For instance, in the poem "A Sinking Tragedy" dealing with this theme she reveals the state of reality of her mind that seems to be assertive. She suggests compromise and moving ahead rather than repenting and showing remorse-
Some poems are reflective of her love for the nation. She weaves the paean on the country's glorious past and thus evokes in us a deep sense of nationalism through her stirring lines. The "End Of A Nonpareil Tale" is one such a poem highlighting the pristine past of India with APJ Abdul Kalam, a humble person of undeniable eminence in the background.
Her sense of Indianness finds an appealing articulation in the poem "India at Zenith" which also sings the glory of India. She exhibits Indian pride in even more beautiful words. She wants the whole world to be alive to the pristine glory, rich cultural heritages of India-
However, the poet is saddened to see the poverty of common people all around. Her realistic description of hunger and hungry strata of society is heart-touching and pathetic. Her eyes see the blood oozing out from the living skeletons that can sensitivitise even a ruthless person. " Unknown Hunger" brings out tears-
In addition to experience of day to day life, idealism and social realism, her poetry also contains her profound sense of philosophy of life in abundance. Though she has courage to face the hard realities of life, yet some of her poems reveal that she turns philosophic when she has no control over the intricate and mystical ways of life. She doesn't bemoan or repent, rather she turns introspective and like a philosopher she comes up with profound thoughts. Her contemplative musings are resonant with realistic affirmation in her poetry. "Stony Memory" is a testament of this hard reality-
Her narrative poem "A Game of Chess" contains the overstatement of an Italian proverb that says after the game is over, the king and the pawn go into the same box. It has been given a story to bring home her point. On the other hand, “Room of Truth” reflects her distinct insightful capability of distinguishing between the truth and falsehood.
Unlike other poems, “The Raven And The Traveller' is a descriptive poem with a moral lesson. The dialogues and tone used in the poem are very didactic. All other poems are equally important and deserve to be enjoyed to a considerable extent.
In short, Akanksha’s debut anthology The Symphony of A Soul as her outward journey of inward exploration is an experiential pilgrimage on the earth with soulful symphony, undertaken with great zeal, gliding out the dark dungeon of disillusionment to the beautiful world of inner illumination. (Written as Foreword to Akanksha Krishnatre’s debut anthology The Symphony of A Soul) |
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07-Oct-2017 | ||
More by : Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar | ||
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