Silent Days :
Poems by Jaydeep Sarangi . Cyberwit.net , Allahabad . (2013 ) P.b.68pp.ISBN :
978-81-8253-396-7. Rs.200/-
By Dr
Pradip Kr Patra, Professor of English
Bodoland
University, Kokrajhar-783370 , Assam
Silent Days is
all about memorable days, sweet moment or otherwise the author’s yearning for
the best moment of life. It is quite clear that for the poet the present moment
is not as good as the past. But he doesn’t moan over. He gives the impression
that the past is as concrete as anything. It is as real as the present. In one
of the poems, ‘Flight’, the poet compares the state of being in ‘flight’ with
the ‘rock’. It is that status of soaring high which is important, not the
lifelessness the rock. For the poet, greater is the pleasure of going above
‘stagnant knowledge’. The poet’s covert yearning for knowledge in democratic
spirit is discernible. As a sequel to the said poem, ‘The Guest’ is one of the important poems in this anthology.
In a casual manner Sarangi tells the story of time. Through the poem, he tells
the story of the individuals who are usually scared of the time moving very
fast. Implicitly, the poet expresses the fear of his thoughts having taking him
altogether in a different direction because of the acceleration of time . Time
may be a big factor responsible for change. But, it is not that time castrates
everything. Sarangi has certain moments of life which time cannot erase. ‘The
Red Soil Allure’ is one such poem that brings a turning point in the life of
the poet. For him, ‘the red soil’ is drenched in emotion. It is the emotion of
a son towards the mother that trickles down. The poet has a conflict within
himself: of nature and spontaneity in one hand and the process of being
civilized on the other. The nature and culture conflict is very prominently portrayed
in ‘Missed Calls’. Sarangi compares and contrasts busy and hectic life in one
hand with that of the innocence of his child who like the grown-ups doesn’t
hanker after anything other than colour pencils. The poet also points out the
desire both of grown-ups and children.
The desires of children are so simple, whereas that of gown-ups so complex. By
choosing the title, ‘Missed Calls’ ( of the poet’s child ) the author rather
hints at his own yearning for innocence.
In ‘I’m on your Side’, the poet elaborately
depicts what he has portrayed rather implicitly in ‘The Red Soil Allure’. Here
is the celebration of tribal village life. The poet’s sophisticated self goes
spontaneously back to ‘red soil’, ‘of herbs numberless’, ‘earthen cottage’,
‘cool shade’, ‘small river’, ‘windy past’ and ‘rains’ etc. With heart and soul,
he remains in such natural ambience.
As he proceeds, the poet appears to
have matured in course of time. In ‘Growing Old with Time’ he acquires greater
experiences of life. He has realized what actually time is. He has also had the
realization that time is a great leveller: years of isolation and stagnation
may end surprisingly. Hence, he justifies the title of the poem, ‘Growing Old
with Time’.
It is not just the experiences and
realization of life , the poet rather moves towards freedom, not just physical,
but also spiritual, the yearning of which even on the part of a prisoner can
contribute to the making of history as it is reflected in the poem, ‘Small
Rivers of the Mind’.
The title poem, ‘Silent Days’, in a way,
is all about the convictions of life. Days keep passing in a sequential manner.
It is not possible to cut the sequence of life. Life is holistic. Bypassing a
small portion means disrupting the whole. What we consider to be old has its
repercussion upon the new. Hence, it is
not just the poem, ‘Silent Days’, but also the collection of poems entitled, Silent Days reflects not only the
poet’s way of looking at the world, colouring it with wisdom, but also gradual
development of his own self. It makes a good reading which will have a positive
impact up on the readers and energize their thought process.
