Shades of Love and Life: By N.M.Leepsa An Appraisal by Chandramoni Narayanaswamy
Shades of Love and Life: By
N.M.Leepsa
An
Appraisal by Chandramoni Narayanaswamy
Leepsa, N.M. (2012). Shades of Love
and Life, Cyberwit.net, pages 117, Rs 200 (US$15), ISBN 978-81-8253-338-7
This
anthology of eighty poems is the maiden venture by a young lass for whom
writing the book was like long journey stretched over a period of five years.
These are all love poems. But though written in the first person they are not
autobiographical for the poet is not in love with anyone; she is love with
love. So she had tried to capture the bliss and sorrow, hope and despair,
thrill and pain of being in love. The poems are addressed to loved one but the
object is not a man in all poems, Nor God, the eternal beloved of mystic poets.
In many poems like “My Love You Never
Knew My Love”, “I Don’t Like When She...”, “I Like When She”, “I Am Sorry”, “I Apologise”,
“Never Got Again”, “She Pretends”, “Waiting Eyes”, “Do Not Hide Yourself”, “Oh Lady
In Forest Green”, “Sleeping Beauty”, etc man is the lover and woman is the beloved.
What a person in love feels, undergoes, expects and experiences and the
changing moods of mind in that state are the shades of love and also of life
for love and life are inseparable. As the poet states in the preface the poem
attempts to express the emotions, feelings and thoughts of all those persons
who have spent some part of their life in the world of love. I shall briefly
comment upon this attempt, as made out in many of the poems.
In the “The Moment You Looked At Me” an attempt is made to capture a life
span in a moment. “Tree of Love “ is
a pensive poem in which shattered hopes nourished over years and the resulting
frustration , are personified as a tree destroyed by storm. “I Wrote Your Name In My Heart”
describes what it feels to be in love and the fond and foolish things one does
in that state of mind. Similar is the poem “She
Hides From You”. “In The Tranquil Hours
of Night” depicts the pangs of separation and desertion. In “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not...”, and
also in “I Wish You Would Be Mine”
the poet describes the doubt, anxiety and agony of being in love with fickle
lover, who many finally betray. The mother instinct surfaces occasionally in
the mind of a woman in love and this brought out in “Hearing the Silence” and in “I
Would Like to Confess”, the love pours out the despair of loving knowing
that love cannot culminate in belonging and yet revels in being in love. “May You Smile Forever” is a poem with a
difference depicting love as friendship and goodwill for and from all, bringing
abiding happiness. Similarly “Strange
Colours of Emotions” is more about friendship than love. “I Am Sorry” is a poem about the guilt and
regret of a betrayer. The next two poems “Forgive
Me, My Babe” and “I Apologise”
are also written in the same vein, regretful of the hurt caused but holding out
a promise to mend and amends. “No More I
Love You” is refreshingly different in which the one who loves in vain
shows self respect and courage to break away. Unlike other poems “Pray For Me” is not addressed to the
loved one but an appeal to a friend to pray for making love fruitful. “The Grave Of My Love” is replete with
despair and disillusionment. “The Lost
Sun” stands apart from rest. In this the characters are not human beings.
But the sun and the earth are symbolised as eternal lovers. “Heartless May” is the only poem in the
collection that can be called a nature poem. (There is factual error in this
poem “taking a long ride after the rainy season she came to the ground this
year” (p. 91). Actually the rainy season comes after May. “Before the rainy reason”
would have been correct and appropriate”).
The
poems are written mostly in rhymed verse. But strict adherence to rhyme has
hampered free and telling expression in some places.
The
author had appropriately dedicated the book to all those who have loved someone
or are in love with someone or wish to be loved by someone in future. She has
become the mouth piece of such people and each poem is an expression of
feelings of such person. This is what puts the anthology in a special category.
On
the whole this a successful maiden attempt by a young poet and makes enjoyable
reading.
***
*Reviewer: Mrs
Chandramoni Narayanaswamy, IAS (Rtd.)
“Annapoornalaya”
Flat No B-006, Snehalata Apartments,
Vivekananda Marg, Bubaneswar-751002, Odisha (India)
*Author of Book:
N.M.Leepsa (PhD, VGSoM, IIT Kharagpur)
At-AE-96 VSS Nagar, Bhubaneswar-751007, Odisha
(India)
Email: n.m.leepsa@gmail.com or
leepsa.writer@gmail.com
Really nice..:)..congrats..:)
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