‘Poetry is a
sword of lightning, ever unsheathed, which consumes the scabbard that would
contain it’, said none other than the famous English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
‘Like a glorious conqueror it has, since the creation of the world, received
the tribute and admiration in every land – from the savage – the homeless
wanderer of the mighty forest-to the son of civilization luxuriating in the
midst of refinement’ – wrote the eminent poet and dramatist Michael Madhusudan Dutta
in one of his essays regarding poetry. The earliest form of poetry was born
through folk songs and the need to retell oral epics. Poetry has since then
evolved and transformed through the ages. Aestheticians have identified three
major genres: epic poetry, lyric poetry, and dramatic poetry. While the epic
and dramatic poetry belong more to the past ages, lyric poetry is the form that
has been most abundant in the modern times. This genre, which expresses ones
emotions and feelings and constitutes primarily of the personal purview of the poet
has perhaps gained more importance in our times because of a massive change in
the way of life. They can further be sub divided into sub-genres like prosaic
poetry, light poetry, speculative poetry etc.
Women have
made great contributions to poetry throughout the ages – be it Sappho or
Christina Rosetti. Poetry by women, especially lyric poetry offers a point of
view of life quite different from that of male poets. Leafing through Sridatta
Gupta’s poetry compilation titled, ‘The Broken Cloud’ stresses this woman’s
point of view to a certain extent. However, many of the poems are of an
ambiguous nature and can be applicable for a men as well as women
The compilation begins with a sweet
and nostalgic poem ‘Those Days’. This poem emulates the sweet reminiscences of
the days spent with the loved one in a refreshing tone, without any hint of
melancholy. It stresses the strength in memories and their power to sustain
life even after the loved one has departed. The next poem ‘Unpacked Memories’
continues in the same spirit and talks about the pleasant memories of
togetherness brought up by the thought of moving from an old abode. The tone
shifts in the poem ‘Alive’, which has a distinct echo of feminism. The poet
voices a modern woman who is independent, confident and raises her voice
against the patriarchal prejudices that demean women. This women’s perspective
is also reflected in the poems like ‘She – A Mystery’, which celebrates the
unfathomable mystery of being a woman; ‘Domestic Lore’, which voices a homemaker
and describes her activity all over the day in a joyous spirit; ‘They Never
Came Back’, which is from the point of view of a public woman who recounts the
momentary intimacies with her clients and sadly reflects that they were only
temporary. There is another interesting set of poems that cater to
personifications. The poem ‘I stand Tall’ gives voice to a tree, while ‘Breath
of Life’ describes the feelings of an unborn child just before it is going to
be born, very scientifically, yet poetically. Similarly ‘Unheard sobs’ refer to the road or
in a larger sense the earth which is tired with the torture of vehicles and
human civilization. These poems are in the first person. A slight variant of
these are poems like ‘Journey’, which depicts the journey of a river from its
point of origin to the sea, in second person, which in a way acts as a metaphor
for life itself; ‘Though art superior’, which portrays time as the supreme
reality; ‘Counting my blessings’, in which the poet compares herself to a tree
that stands all alone on the roadside and realizes that she is much better off,
since she has people whom she can share her life with, making it an interesting
application of Gandhiji’s talisman. There is another set of poems that deal with
metaphors. For e.g: in the poem ‘Broken Kites’, the flying kites act as a
metaphor for dreams. Some of them snap, some get entangled yet some soar
to new heights. In ‘Youth’s Sunset’, the progression of morning into evening
and eventually night act as metaphors for the different phases of life – youth,
middle age and old age. In ‘Grain of Sand’, sand is compared to youth and
flying sand to the vitality of life. In the poem ‘Love’s Mekhla’, The poet is
fascinated by the skill of craftsmen looming a Mekhla saree and compares the
intricate craft of weaving bits and pieces of string to that of building a
relationship. There are some poems that are of a very personal nature, and are
the fruits of observations and realizations of the poet. ‘I say its unfair’ touches
upon the theme of Confucius’s Golden Rule, contemplating the fact that we
complain of someone’s bad behavior but do not comprehend the fact that we may
have similarly with others. In the poem, ‘Mysteries of Life – An Open book’,
the poet recollects her worst fears but realizes that living in fear ends the
life before it even begins and resolves to live it to the fullest. There are also
poems on varying tones that cannot be categorized as such. Notable among them
are ‘A stranger in strangeness’, which celebrates an unnamed relationship with
someone who is a friend yet more than a friend, one who shines brightly in the
memories of days gone by, which is something many of us can relate to; ‘I do I
do’, which expresses the joy of getting into a commitment and the sorrows of it
turning sour and thus portrays a harsh reality of our age; ‘Yesterday Night It
Rained’, which is a descriptive as well as lyrical poem describing the sights and sounds of rain that evoke a deep
nostalgia. The title poem, ‘The Broken Cloud’ emphasizes the spirit of moving
on. The broken cloud represents the attachments to the past which are difficult
to get rid of. But once that is accomplished, the wounds are healed giving rise
to new hope. This is indeed a good choice for the title of the book. But
perhaps the best poem in the collection is ‘Writer’s Block’. This poem depicts
the writer’s block and the way she overcomes it. Hence the process of writing
the poem becomes the poem itself, making it an interesting application of Poioumena
in poetry. Although this has precedents, it is nonetheless praiseworthy. This
poem can also be thought of an example of Immanuel Kant’s ‘Ding an Sich’, or
the ‘thing-in-itself’.
The
poems are mostly of a lyrical nature. Some of the verses rhyme, while some are
in free verse. However the rhyme or lack of it seems to be very much in tune
with the mood of each poem. The choice of words is also apt. The arrangement
order of the poems is thoughtful. The illustrations by Sukhada Sahasrabuddhe
perfectly compliment the poetry.
Overall
‘The Broken Cloud’ is a commendable effort by debutante poet Sridatta. I wish
her all the best for her future endeavors.
