Soothing Serenades by Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar: A book-review by Hemant Das 'Him'

An ointment to everybody's sore

Love can never be superfluous. Even in a time when every emotion is getting parched, it is bound to prevail.   It is an envelope that hides all of the sorriness in your life and an ointment which heals all of your wounds.  Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar is well aware of the fact that humming would be relevant till the birth of child takes place and so, a sweet and an amorous aura of soothing serenades would never be outdated till man and woman exist in this world with all of their youthfulness.

Bhaskar is candid enough to declare his motive as wide open  as making it his title “Soothing Serenades”. There is no if and buts. It’s unflinchingly a collection of love poems and love here is unequivocally a love predominantly of opposite genders.  Starting from the first poem to the sixty-second  poem he has been engulfed by love in different shades.  There is love of reunion and love of separation, silent love, true love, platonic love, secret love,  love in eve, metaphysical love , romantic love and many other varieties of it.

Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar

A good grip over the nuances of usage and a rich repertoire of words the poet possesses add to the splendor of his language. I have no qualms in saying that you are bound to turn the pages of his poem book again and again also for keeping your word-power stout. The range of vocabulary is simply unparalleled among those possessed by the writers I have ever come across.

The youthfulness, handsomeness  and perhaps a well-to-do upbringing of the poet have given him the rare opportunity to write about pure pristine love even in this troubled era that is marked by the turbulence across and within the border of the nation. His poetry will lull you after all the drudgery of daily routine and pacify  your vibes of restlessness. So, in some way it is an antidote to the poisons of any violence that may crop up in your mind on the dividing lines of caste and community.

He tries to define the love but get entangled in its enigmatic form and says-

Love is an enigma

Beyond the understanding

Of the body and the mind

The thought about the poet’s sweetheart starts as ripples just to be channeled to a unfathomable entity like an ocean-

All the riveting ripples

of thoughts for her

do shape up,

making a furrow, far-flung

on the broad breast

of the ocean,

Love has nothing to do with physical presence it is more a play of spirits than that of body.  The strongest rope is that which connects hearts and is no way affected by the distance lying in between. The two lovers will still love within their respective ramparts they are kept in-

Connected together at heart

With the love

Up for each other

We bloom

In our respective gardens

Bedecked with buds and flowers.

And this bloom of love is not just for musing. It has a pragmatic aspect as well. The usefulness lies not in its lackadaisicalness  but in dispelling the pervading negativity of thoughts which chocks your potentiality for giving a good output in this industrious world-

The pleasant fragrant breeze

That gushes from yours

Sweeps away

The chronic stinks

Of widespread gloom

And sullenness

Stagnating in my heart

As already discussed, love has different shades. There are times when your love is not with you. Even in this parched time the idea of your love remains sweet-

Solitude befriends me in

When days get drugged;

Dream hugs me sweetly

When I sleep unhugged

Bhaskaranand cannot be discounted as a blabber about love matters. He purposefully uses the love for healing the deep wounds of life that invariably come in everyone’s life-

Breaking fetters of gloomy heart

Locked in cranky casket of life,

Love consoles the unheard sobs

Healing the deep wounds of life

Whenever I speak to her,

I do it aloud,

love-coated words from my heart

to sow seeds of joy into her barren life

so as to sprout up

veracity of life, more cloud cast

with unwanted sulkiness

too heavy to wear

on the face in deep deluge,

undue in her heart

on the coast of life,

eyes seeking serenity.

Nevertheless, the poet also knows  that the role of poetry should not be reduced to merely a gadget of improving productivity in this mundane world. In fact, poetry is itself the best output a man can seek in life and is a strength on face of deteriorating sore of durable experiences-

serendipity of soul

have a deteriorating sore

watching the tides

surging up from my depths,

eroding away all

sweet reminiscences of her

  

The poet has not stopped after splashes of man-woman love, he has not yet forgotten the pure unblemished innate love of early age-

My old friend of childhood days

Blows out from the memories

From the fabulous florescent milieu

From pure breath

And smiling face of my mother

From the beauty of the land,

Caressing me in full glee

 There is no outer object worthy to be made your goal. It’s your inner journey that matters. You are yourself your guide who know the best how to strive and engender the honest love which is not salable at any cost-

For all flaws and blows

stumbling blocks

on the way I stand up

on my own feet…

and move on

ahead

to fish out love

in heart

not to be sold out

in the contemporary mart

 Love should not be wanton. It must be considerate. It is the most unstructured yet the most serious belonging in one’s life not to be spoiled wayward. The poet has formulated the desirable course of action on love matters-

A surging love

Amid tides of the hearts,

Not channelized

In a particular course

Properly fixed,

Or rather

Family-oriented,

Often succumbs to

Mute misunderstanding,

To crusty confusions

Creating problems –

Mental and emotional –

One after another

Losing its worthy charm

At the crossroads

Of myriad relationships...

Love must anchor

Loving souls

In the depth of intimacy

With soulful mates

In a sweet harbour

Of peaceful living

With bonds of loyalty

Rather than going wayward

As a wanton flirt

Sucking virgin honey

And dumping the honeycomb –

The males or the females

‘Ventilation’ is a marvelous composition in which the poet gives a call to himself and the lover to act like a ventilator and set out to unclog all the blockades of matters-non-grata and remove the fog of gloom in life of self and others-

 You are to me a ventilation

I am to you a ventilation

breathing new life

into us

through the narrow gap

in the mindless wall,

in the enclosure

of the flesh

of the iron

of the glass

strongly built up

we are locked together,

hacked

wrecked

in the stony world

poorly ventilated;

the window of its heart

clogged

fogged

with sad darkness,

and in life’s dungeon

states of mind

matters of heart

cries of the soul remain

all unuttered

utterly unventilated

Even then....

you are to me a ventilation;

I am to you a ventilation

The vision of the poet is broad and he sees nothing wrong in taking even the voyeuristic pleasure of love. The inherent message is if you are not able to get your good time then be happy with that of others -

Stealthily lurked

In roving eyes of the craving heart

My voyeuristic love sips her beauty…

Love is not the name of splashing yourself with superficial pleasures. It is delving deep into the sea and explore, to try to fathom the depth of kindness a human can have within his heart-

Life is all deep

Dark

So shallow inside,

Whirling

Like a vortex

Of water...

Let love dive in

To fathom

The depth

With an intensity

To explore –

Nuggets of self.

Light will embrace

You

And your soul

On the seabed

Of love

And peace.

And therefore the poet longs to get the ultimate kiss of love before he dies.

To relish the bliss of life

Before Death silently plants

The ultimate Kiss

On my puckered lips!

Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar deserves to be appreciated for crooning songs with ultimate softness even in this era of universal terrorism and violence.  We hope he will definitely give more space to the complexities and difficulties of life from his upcoming next collections. Nevertheless, you always need an ointment whenever there is a sore and Bhaskaranand is always there for you with his Soothing Serenades. 

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Title of the book - Soothing Serenades: Straight from the heart

Poet of the book- Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar

Publication-  Authorspress, Q-2A Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi-110 016 (India)
Pages 113, Price Rs.250
Link of the author- http://bhaskaranand-jha.blogspot.com/
You can buy the book here- Click here to buy the book

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Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'

E-mail of the reviewer- hemantdas_2001@yahoo.com

You may also respond through comments on this post or sending e-mail to editorbiharidhamaka@yahoo.com

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Introduction of the Poet- Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar is a trilingual poet (Maithili, Hindi and English), short story writer, critic and reviewer, based in Kolkata. He is regularly published in various national and international magazines, both printed and online. His poetry springs straight from heart and mind as unification of sensibility. He uses catchy lines, expressions and images. In his poetry, social issues, romance and love are tackled with equal passion. Resonant with profound spirituality and intricate mysticism his poems are stunning and enlightening, buoyant sometimes and intense at other times and always have a deep meaning beautiful enough to touch hearts of avid readers. One of his poems on Nelson Mandela is included in the academic syllabus prescribed for the school students of Philippines.

Soothing Serenades: Straight From  the Heart is his first volume of poems and another one is in the pipeline. He is also a contributor to journals like The Criterion: An International Journal in English, IJML (International Journal On Multicultural Literature),  The Anvil (Forum of Literature & Academic Research in English) and Harvests of New Millennium, The Interiors, Taj Mahal Review, IJES (The Indian Journal of  English Studies). He is also a part of several anthologies like 'Epitaphs', ‘Purple Hues”, “Whispering Winds”, “Just For You, My Love”, “Heavenly Hymns”, ‘I Am a Woman”, “The Significant Anthology”, “Umbilical Cords”, "A- Divine-Madness" (Five Volumes), "Poetic Prism" - 2015 & 16, "Searching For Sublime" (Australian-Indo Poetry), "She the Shakti", "Whispering Heart"etc.

He is also the Review Editor of Asian Signature, a literary e-journal, managed from Kolkata.

Read two of his poems on different subject here- Please Click Here