BLURB
"Nabina Das's beautiful poems is a daring blend of modern times avant-garde and traditional motives that sets her as a leading voice among today's Indian poetry scene. Named one of the best books of poetry of 2012 in the Sunday section of the New Indian Express. Foreword by the internationally established poet Peg Boyers."
A book of poetry is never
just a collection of poems. It is a journey into the world of the poet like no
other, taking you through mature thoughts and childish images, nostalgia and
practical reality and most of all a perspective of happenings that though
intensely personal, connect instantly with its readers. Unlike most Indian
authors writing in English who are remarkable only in their 'Indianness' of
which they hold a rather romantic view of the slight touch of the country in
them, Das' poetry shakes you with its global outlook, diverse themes and living
pictures, created by a mind both well read and incredibly discerning. The
images formed by her words not only leap off the pages but stay with you as
real as a place you had visited not so long ago. Nabina Das' poetry is like
walking through a thinking, breathing wall of words, which take on a life of
their own, distinct even from their writer's. Each poem is accentuated by its
vivid imagery, all closely woven into modern life and living. She expresses the
natural beauty of her home Guwahati, with the same ease with which she deals
with New York's streets.
The title suggests a
container holding something and the colour blue, rather strange for the vessel,
draws the attention of the reader. The poem Blue Vessel, follows the norms of
an ode only in that it is in praise of the Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda. The
title of the book makes it appropriate as it holds together pieces of work just
as a vessel would hold water. The opening lines are reminiscent of the famous
poem of Wordsworth , ' My heart leaps up' and just like the famed poet, she too
would rather perish than let her art 'rust and free loafing in the surf'. Any poem from the collection would fit the
genre of the island floating free of the mainland yet undeniably connected to
the main through water.
Her poems on nature are typified
by this intermingling of life with it, so real of today where most nature is
only what man chooses to preserve. The seasons seem to have a great impact on
the poem as she has several poems dealing with this theme. In 'Spring's early
grace', the experience of the coming of spring through the eyes of one who
faces a freezing northern winter, welcoming the animals and insects into your
home, feeding them with the bounty of the
season is well expressed. The poem though written in free verse, plays out the melody of nature with the
advent of spring in a cold country like a melody. 'Summer in catskills town'
where the daily life of the poet there triggers off a longing for the familiar
scent of mogras as is 'Her garden in two hemispheres' where she looks at her
garden in the other country and longs to see flowers that grow in her home
country, India while 'Sea-aria' personifies summer, comparing it to a beautiful
woman. Written in prose-like fashion, it still feels like the rhythmic slapping
of waves on the sand at a beach augmented by the colours of sunset. The
expressions 'pizza hot sun' and 'dripping like syrup' speak of the intense
summer heat. Autumn is expressed through 'Weather wisely at the Window' also
touched by nostalgia and a longing for the familiar.
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| Nabina Das |
'Music by the river-side'
takes a step into the poet's childhood and touches though fleetingly on the
simple things which accentuate memories of a long ago. River lines increases
its appeal to the senses the stanzas create the shape of rippling water. The final stanza of
the poem captures its essence. The city invades the poet's life through the
droplets of rain 'stick sound and light' on the window. A metaphor is drawn
between the life in the city and the river into the night and continues irrespective
of time. A parallel is drawn between mundane sounds of traffic and city lights and
the . The flickering of car lights to the sparkle of sunlight on water in the
daytime
Just a few words such as
I like talking to you.
And then we walk out.
Sounds and words flow like a river.
Love
poems in the collection 'Blue Vessel', have a transient feel about them where each
one expresses only a 'touch and go' relationship either due to circumstances or
choice. The lack of permanence is most exemplified by 'I am the second Earth.
But' with its ghost lovers as the
beloved 'spits vowels' instead of endearments and 'Jeanne Moreau's song' where
lovers still remain friends or even 'Inspite of our Bad days Splits' where 'the
sky has gathered its skirt abruptly,
sprinkling pollen powdered in pollen as far, As legs mill. 'Song for the Bihu
waisted sister' shows how inexplicably the poet's being is woven into the
political sphere of her home where she actively feels the pain of loss of a
north eastern girl as she waits for a soldier to return. She waits for love
'like a mauve liquor dripping' on her lap.
The
subtle but essential difference between lust and love is brought out by 'Her
Love'. The flush of pubescent love seems carnal, as readers feel the power of emotion of a young girl in rural north east
India tasting forbidden fruit so to speak in 'All things become islands' and
the perception of separateness mingled with that of them staying the same which
is a prominent theme in Das' poems. Das compares the first flush of writing to
this innocent lust. Das' writes easily about Bollywood love tales and the
silence of true love in contrast
excessive sound which surrounds the surreal atmosphere created on screen.
Khajurao longings' is the poet's take on homosexuality closeted still so to
speak, unable to reach culmination. The similarity of joy and sorrow is
symbolized by 'Bouquet', offered equally on both occasions. Permanence is best
brought out by 'Eight and half' how all things strange grow into habits as also
'Macadam'. The pun on the word 'daily' is significant in its usage as it brings
out the essential difference in a life of convenience and necessity.
The
poet's versatility comes to the fore in 'Essence of exhibits' ( which also
brings out her love for painting) and 'Love story between composing' which is a tribute to the poetess, Amrita
Pritam while the influence of greats like Paulo Nebula and Tagore, is evident
in the theme of islands, which is touched on repeatedly and even explored on
occasion, and the manner in which the poet writes about nature. The pun on the
word daily-ness in 'Monday' emphasizes the differences in life styles
symbolically as does the 'New York woman'. the 'penelope face' shows seeping
influences of the surrounding culture. 'Poetry forms' speaks about 'numbing
meters and deadly rhymes' from the times of Plato, while 'Macadam' has the
rhythm of an interstate. 'Ten-feet-by-Ten
feet' imitates the rhythm of the native tongue of the songster. 'Somewhere,
circa unknown', though touched by images of the poet's home, comments on the similarity
of human emotion and life irrespective of place, touched only by differences of
culture. Das dabbles with shapes in poems like 'Cipher', 'River lines' and 'All
things..'
The
metrical patterns followed by Das has a great effect in adding to the meaning
of the poem. Political influences seep into 'Water on Ink', 'Homily at the
Baradari fort' and the reference to the Gaza strip. 'Water on Ink' definitely
captures the fleetingness of the issues in an Indian scenario. Lyricism is
natural to Das as the sounds of her poetry flow into one another, heightening
the sensation of the image created every poem like the sound of But even so,
the most predominant impression of Das' poetry is the influence of nature on
the poet who sees every change through the eyes of creation always touched by
femininity and Indian culture while maintaining a global appeal. Barriers seem
to have been broken only superficially and sometimes it appears, with an effort
towards acceptance or apparent early rejection. However, the seamless
integration of erudition is evident in her work and lends it an untouchable
quality of perspicacity while remaining grounded in realism. Das' has certainly
carved a niche for herself in the annals of English poetry.
By Tulika Mukerjee Saha
Tulika is a teacher by profession and has been teaching for the last 15 years of which the last five have been in Delhi Public School, Bopal, Ahmedabad . She writes short stories and poems in her spare time. She has been a trainer for Trinity college of London for 5 years and an ESOL examiner for 2 years.
