“Living Inside” by Gopal Lahiri
Pub: Authorspress; ISBN:9788172737689, Price: INR. 195.  

In the vast world of poetry, each poet‘s creative genius remains unique in its own way and so is Gopal Lahiri’s poetic world. Going through this collection “Living Inside” gives a feeling of being into the Garden of colourful fragrant flowers. Gopal Lahiri’s poems are like different beautiful flowers so fresh and fragrant. One would never wish to come out of this garden of flowers and would love to be there in this wonderful garden for countless hours. His poems have the magical skills to captivate the readers and keep them lingering on the pages to get in more insightful delight.
 
The publisher Authorpress has done a fabulous job by selecting the cover page which depicts beautiful nature. One gets lured by the shower of colourful petals which are unevenly scattered by the breeze. It increases the curiosity of the readers to know what is “Living Inside” and would love to live inside amidst nature.

The scholarly Foreword by Dr Sunil Sharma is a befitting testimony to the worthiness of the book. In the Foreword, Dr Sunil Sharma strikes a major note when he designates Gopal lahiri as “Columbus”. He says, “In this internet age of proliferating poetry, Gopal Lahiri stands as a towering new Columbus pointing us towards new possibilities, directions and territories. Gopal Lahiri can create enchanting landscapes through words and finer sensibility that very few possess these days of instant communication. With fast strokes, this geological scientist can produce sensitive portrayals of contemporary worlds that border on the marvellous!”

A well crafted foreword by Dr Sunil Sharma has added strength to this volume.
 
Gopal Lahiri successfully interknits multiple perspectives to produce a well integrated pattern of thoughts and feelings. He has the ability to convey greater truths of life and human existence with ease and conviction. He uses his pen effectively in exposing the hypocrisy that prevails in the spineless thought process of people  In one of his poems titled ‘Snippet’ the last line “but who cares , damn it “ brought on by the awareness of social realities exposes the complexities of the individual in particular and society at large . One can feel the angst in his poems .The last line will most definitely touch the hearts of the readers and for sure will create awareness among them to make this earth a better place to live in.

“Spectacle floats in snippets of anguish,crouching, gnawing,
asking too many questions on food and shelter,
 hygiene and education,
everyone knows fully well      
but who cares, damn it.”   
(Snippet-pg 20 and 21)

“Let us share our teardrops with the passing clouds
Find solace and peace in the solitude of tall trees,
Wondrous the fragrance of night, pure and untainted,
A new bud appears in our troubled mind, tortured soul.”
(Share – pg 25)

“Azure sky, crisp clouds, soft sunlight –rolls
into an orange yellow screen spreading colour;
the various shades and hues of flowers lay scatter all
Around by rocking of the soothing breeze
connect the long pending mystical elements of the earth.”
(Kumarakom –pg 33)

“Everything echoes and fades away hastily,
Even the passage of the sunlight misses out-
You have to remain without a solution.
 
live everything from loneliness to the chaos,
capture every shade of pain in your thoughts-
Take it upon yourself and peel the inner layers.
 
Your dreams have a life of their own,
You seek in every moment, every interval-
The innermost soul leads you way to the answer”.
(A way of living –pg 51)

“Torn clothes, dirty face, she looks in fierce focus.
She sits on the pavement, mutter in silence,
Can anyone save me from fighting hunger?”
(Struggle-pg 53)

“A question hangs in the air-What if you stop and never start again?
What happens after the ashes? We don’t know but would like to.
It may be that not every clue we need we have so much of fear you know
fear of defeat fear of darkness, you gravelly voice grounds us, your denial
brings us pain and grief, your answer is always abrupt and curt.
Just accept we are floating in water, just lie back and let it hold you up
Just drop off, let it go the burden. It’s great to escape in another time.”
(Freedom -79)