Publisher’s
write-up:
‘Ever thought about why someone is creative when someone else is not?
Incidentally Creative is a collection of poems written over a span of 8 years
in which different ‘incidents’ and experiences gave rise to words which have
been penned down. Everything from hobbies, work, studies, occurrences, and what
not have contributed to the poems in some form or the other. Without intending
to be creative, when being penned, the words that form these poems, turned out
to be incidentally creative, alluding to the title. Poems like Voices of life,
Frozen Light, Choices and True Men will leave one introspecting on their life.
Then there are ones like Ardor, Odium, Like Her and Plagues of Humanity where
emotions run rampant. The incidents behind the poems are commonplace; as will
be the connection a reader has with these poems.’
Incidentally Creative is a
collection of 30 poems written by the poet Vijay Subramaniam K. It covers a
variety of topics involving human relationships (friendships, familial and
romantic), hobbies, the poet’s general views on the world, the poet’s
appreciation of nature, aspects of life such as school, work, hobbies,
bereavement, inter alia. It covers a diverse range of topics within the given
thirty poems.
The poet uses a style that is normally
abstract and uses imagery to put forth his point; much as he has a clear idea
on what he is trying to say, he leaves a bit to the reader to interpret. The
poetic devices used were mostly imageries, similes, metaphors, alliterations,
occasional satire, and even some free verses. The fact that the poet has
compiled thirty different poems is a great aspect for a book on poetry as you
get to cover a diverse array of topic. Moreover, this is also a book that gives
you an insight into the poet’s process of growing up into an adult from a
teenager, as the book contains poems he wrote when he was a fifteen-year-old
till date and the poet is still young in his early twenties (as on the day of
writing the review) – and so, there is a potential for a lot more poems to be
added up as time goes by.
However, while the poems span
over a nearly ten-year span, it must also be noted that poet, if I may so, has
deftly not placed them in a chronological order – giving the reader the scope
to guess which stage of his life he was in when he wrote the poems and can
accordingly adjust their interpretations.
The poems are quite difficult –
both in terms of language and content and to enjoy it best, the reader requires
a peaceful surrounding and not read too many poems at once – unless they are an
absolute poetry enthusiast who can go on marathons. However, to ease the
tensions, in anticipation of the fact that a lot of readers might be a novice when
it comes to reading poetry, the author has given the background to each of the
poems he has written.
With that said, the background
could be the first bone of contention to poetry enthusiasts – as it sets
boundaries to the limits of your imagination in terms of interpretation. It is
true that poetry is often interpreted based on the life experiences of the poet
and thus, a very elaborate ‘About the Poet’ in the book could have sufficed.
The same could be said for the
poems not being in chronological order, wherein, in some cases, it could also
be a curse – especially for a poem like The
Life of a Detective ; where the premise had so much scope and after reading
great heart felt poetry like Frozen
Light, Ode to Trees, Plagues of Humanity, etc. the expectation on this was
rather high for me but it was evident that it was written something early on
and did not live up to the premise.
With that said, there is another
detail to this review I need to add – I never disclose my prior association
with the writer of the book even if there was one (in the 200 odd reviews I
have written) but I believe I need to make an exception on this. The poet in
question here is one of my closest friends, since school days and in fact, I
was the reviewer for most of his poems – during school days and later on, even
in our professional lives. In fact, I have been party to some of the incidents
that inspired the poet for the poems (including the very first one in the
book). The reason I am disclosing this is for two reasons – the fact that it
was probably easier for me to interpret and as a result, I may not be entirely
objective over the review. However, I would assert that I have made my best to
ensure that the personal relationship has not been a factor in anyway.
I would look forward to his next
compilation of poems (I know a few which were not part of the book but deserve
to be part of the next). I would say that this is an excellent book for poetry
lovers and on that basis, I award this book a rating of seven on ten.
Rating - 7/10
Have
a nice day,Andy
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