Jaydeep Sarangi

 A DOOR SOMEWHERE?

                                         POEMS BY JAYDEEP SARANGI

CYBERWIT.NET, 2014,ISBN 978-81-8253-490-2

Reviewed by

Edyta WIĘCŁAWSKA

University of Rzeszów,Poland

            The volume of poems under review is a collection of thoughts that present a new look at the aspects of life that have always been reflected upon. Although the poet puts himself in a modest position choosing for his motto the words by A.D. Hope emphasising – by analogy to the power of nature – the helplessness of a man to describe the reality, the poems prove to be a very thought-provoking and pleasant material for highly intellectual readers.

The topics touched upon are said – by the poet himself – to have been triggered by past memories and experiences. The theme of the past recurs in a number of poems. For example, in the poem Small Things in Life the poet uses phrases like ‘old castles live with memories’ and ‘ancient ghosts are chanting’. In the same poem we read that the past comes to us through the open door or windows. There is also a reference to ‘unlocking the past’.

The motive of a door seems to be recurring throughout the volume. The image of door is a way to present life as a continuum. We wait in front of the door, cross the threshold and face new challenges. The poet says ‘I do not know his tomorrow behind the door’ in Mysteries of the Door. In the same poem the readers get the image of the door that is open or locked. Entering new sphere of possibilities is perceived as embarking on a journey. We read about people who wait and then leave the station (Small Things in Life).

            The reflections seem to be even more authentic for those who can trace some autobiographical elements in the poems by Jaydeep Sarangi. In My Old Chariot roads […] carry me and my daughter’. Likewise, in Small Things in Life the author provides us with the picture of sitting and talking with his daughter (‘I sat with my daughter who kept talking’). Finally, A Mirror includes the picture of his daughter tracing white lines on his head. The authenticity of the poetry is enhanced by the promise the poet makes in Small Things in Life: Now I don’t look for a by-pass everywhere. It’s straight from my heart’.

            The poems are to be appreciated for their rhetorics. The author uses a variety of linguistic devices to convey his reflections. For example, whispering time in My Old Chariot, the river that greets the poet in A Door  and the day growing older in Day Breaking stand for cases of personifications. In general, the metaphorics of the poems under review is very rich and the images sketched by the poet may be said to be triggered by a variety of conceptual links. Hence, to illustrate, the overwhelming silence is referred to as ‘blanket of silence’ in My Old Chariot. Notably, the rain-based metaphorics is particularly favoured by the poet. Hence we have ‘rain of images’ in A Door, ‘rain-lashed trees’ in A Letter to God, ‘words don’t rain surprise’ in A Mirror and ‘wet trees looked at me in amazement’ in Each Time.

There are also instances of taste metaphor. Here belong, for instance, sweet face mentioned in My Old Chariot, thoughts that are swallowed, as written in For a Postman, hungry eyes in Mystery of the Land and honey dreams referred to in Sleep.

In synthesis it needs to be emphasised that the poetry by Jaydeep Sarangi has much of a clam-down effect. It puts the reader in a state of harmony, belief and trust for the good things to come. Things which are important to all of us are said to come to us in a natural way, just as the sun comes after a spell of bad weather. The message communicated in the poems is delivered with unique freshness. Reading about serious philosophical issues the reader feels relaxed and positive. This may be said to be the result of the sincerity of thought and the richness of green and rainy imagery, as delivered by the poet, which – by the way – brings to us the taste of India.