Poetry Mom and Nirvana Whizkid

Ranjan Yumnam *

The title of this article may sound frivolous but don't be deceived by it. It's precisely my intention to mislead you into thinking that you are comfortably easing into a warm bath-tub with bubbles while the actual territory is landmine of explosively sublime ideas and philosophy. Let us poke that bubbles together later; for now, hold that thought.

I will be dealing with weighty issues of life in the manner of reviews of two books gifted to me by their magnanimous authors. The first book is "Endless I Will Be", an anthology of poems written by the first-time poet, Sonia Oinam.

The second is a slim pocketable book with profound thoughts that do the heavy lifting, effortlessly, for us in its few but succinct pages. "The Lights in Oneself" written by Shree Kh Nepolean is a rare find for me and draws our fickle attention to the big questions of the universe and our existence.

ENDLESS SONIA

First, the proceedings are in order for the poetry book. Lest I forgot to mention, Sonia Oinam is an MCS officer working in the Manipur Government. Not that her profession and designation is of any significance to the review of her poetry; what she does during the day to earn her bread and butter is irrelevant. But what her poetry does to her career is worth finding out. More on that later.

Endless I Will Be is neatly classified in three nice Sections with a feminine touch: (I) Behold Not (II) Come Changes Come and (III) Hope.

The first section features poetry including those written during her blooming days while a nubile something when she was at that time of life when love is so rosy, the hearts ache, and the longing to be with someone special gives you enjoyable pain in an ironic way.

Like Rome, all roads lead to Love. Through the mist, rain and seasons, the mind is obsessed with only love, even during sleepless nights and beautiful dreams in which you pray not to wake up—not just yet.

It seems so absurd that I am reviewing a work of poetry with some prosaic lifeless prose. How about getting a taste of some lines from the source? Sample this:

"I find in poetry — an ecstasy and a wholeness.
As a friend, you hear me out, and as a deep breath, you calm me down.
Through you, I believe in the Lord who blesses, loves me so.
You put light into me, and free my fire deep, suggesting me my purpose in life,"
– all in a burst of poignancy in "Poetry" at page 103.

Sonia's work is a personal thumbnail for her as much as the exposition of her innermost thoughts to the public. Her shape-shifting persona embodied in her slender poetry book is a joy to read without the pressure to score brownie points like reading the office memorandums that she is compelled to do as part of her day job.

In that way, the hard edges of her job have been softened by the tenderness and compassion of her poetry brought to reality by stealing moments from her motherhood, office and laundry. What a poetic justice for the soul!

Before concluding this review, let me share a fun fact about Dr. Sonia Oinam, also an accomplished academician who cut her teeth at Manipur University. The thesis for her Ph.D is the esoteric "Nematode Fauna of Cold Blooded Vertebrates of Manipur."

That she is the same person behind the beautiful verses in Endless I Will Be in her path of life startles the hot blood down my spine in a happy way. Grab a copy now to know the feeling, which cannot be easily explained like alphabets in the kindergarten class.

LIGHT OF NEPOLEAN

The Light in ONESELF written by Shree KH Nepolean is the second book I am reviewing today with the sole purpose of advising the future writers how to write a spiritual book, so laconic which tantalises your mind and leave you desiring for more like a diamond just shown for a flickering moment and then taken away from view.

After reading each chapter of the book, you feel like an orphan abandoned at the gates of enlightenment without a guiding hand for the onward journey. Arousing that feeling of abandonment is the point of the book, deliberately crafted. Attaining Nirvana is a lonely journey, mind you.

Without going into the details, the topics of the chapters will give you an idea about the nature of the book. Chapters are named "On Attachment, On Freedom, On Compassion, On the Nature of Mind, On Love, On Desire, On Sex, On pleasure and pain, On Loneliness, On Relationship, On Fear, On Anger, On Education, On Jealousy, On Beauty, On Birth and Death, On God, On Meditation and On the Meaning of Life".

It is my reading experience that the Self-Help and Meditational/Mindfulness genre is done to death. There is a whole publishing industry thriving off the insecurities, self-doubt of the individuals and uncertainties and conflicts wrought by the socio-economic and geo-political realities of the modern world in which the ephemeral and milliseconds long fame in the Social Media is both sought after and condemned.

The very technology that has helped us to rid the absurdities of human existence has also exacerbated our existential anxieties and rethink our role in the universe, purpose of life and the apocalyptical dread generated by global-warming phenomena, ecological imbalance, wars, disease and many other fearsome possibilities.

Add to this, the constant struggle for hegemony of racial, religious and political ideologies; we are definitely making the world a bleak place to be in—despite the wonders of AI, promise of human settlement on exo-planets, trans-humanism, etc., with its share of problematic ethical questions.

If there is any common summary of the Holy Grail to finding peace and happiness espoused by the Self-Help Gurus, then it is this: Let go of attachments; remember the impermanence of things and people; change is the only constant; happiness comes from inside; let go of past, surrender the illusion control, live in the moment and be more mindful through meditation, have compassion for self and others, embrace radical acceptance of events, realities(amor fati), etc.

These and many other metaphysical thoughts related to the human condition are re-imagined and encapsulated in The Light in Oneself written by Nepolean. His book is admittedly influenced by the teachings of the giant of the Indian spiritual thinker J. Krishnamurthy.

Nepolean doesn't pretend otherwise and the book represents his personal journey for seeking the truth. He lives and works like us, not atop an ivory tower of fake enlightenment. So, why not hitch a ride on his spiritual vehicle? I promise you will find it rewarding beyond expectations.