Hi Folks!
Poetry books are always a source of delight when read due to two reasons specifically. The first one, so many meanings are embedded within a few lines that unearthing them is a joy whereas the second, you can finish it quickly. However, I’ll not suggest you to go for the latter one because reading in haste may result in a loss of meaning and possible ways of interpreting it.
Title: The Broken Rainbow
Author: Ruth Vanita
Publisher: Copper Coin
Genre: Poetry
Distributor: Amazon. Click here to buy/view.
Pages: 78
Price: Rs. 325/- (Available in hardcover only)
The 52 poems in the book ‘The Broken Rainbow’ has been divided into four sections namely A Little More than Kin, But that was in Another Country, LGBTQIA and Last Things. The print quality of the book is also good that can add beauty to your shelf.
The contents might tempt you!
Written in free verse/verse libre, the poems relate to the corresponding theme with which the section begins. For instance, a poem in the section ‘But that was in another country’ can be read as;
However, while reading, I felt that there is no strict division to offer a break from the narrative due to the complete change in the theme. Overlapping can be seen which offers a swift transition across the sections.
The poems are subtle in the sense that it refrains from giving intricate details i.e. in which context the poem has been written. Most of the poems are short and much has been left of the readers to make sense of it. Hence, merely reading won’t be helping much unless you decide to work with them to enrich the poems with your experience/understanding. I think that’s one of the purposes of poetry.
Some of the poems included in the book are translations of famous Urdu/Hindi poems/ghazal as well. I found this one alluring.
I’ll not be adding more poems here and will suggest that you read them by yourself.
Interestingly, this is one of the few books which I got from the poet herself. Prof. Ruth Vanita came to deliver a talk in my department.
After teaching at the University of Delhi for two decades, Vanita Ma’am is currently a professor at the University of Montana, US. Got the opportunity to exchange my thoughts on translation in terms of Gender and Sexuality.
I’ll also share my views after reading this book. Till then, check out the book for which I wrote the review.
Thanks for reading!
– Shashank
Pragmatic's Personas 