Jaydeep Sarangi. From Dulong To Beas – Poems. New Delhi. Authorspress. 2020. Rs.295. $20

Shri. Jaydeep Sarangi is a well known poet from India. His poems have appeared in several significant journals both in India and abroad. He has read his poems at Australia, Poland, Italy and many other places. He is the author of multiple poetry collections. He is a widely anthologised poet.

Shri. Jaydeep is the son of the Indian soil. His poems are sometimes personal and deeply natural but with a universal connotation. The poetry is humane and down to earth.

‘From Dulung to Beas’ is his latest book of poems. It was first published in 2012. It has been brought out as a revised and enlarged edition in 2020.

The very first poem, ‘Shall I Speak Again’ in the book impresses us. The use of distinct metaphors and alliteration/assonance makes this poem stand apart. The opening lines are breathtaking!

‘I whispered my thoughts,
Among green trees numberless,
In a flat breast of barren history!
- {‘Shall I Speak Again’}

The last few lines of the poem are excellent and place the expectations of the reader on a really high trajectory. The poems don’t disappoint us.

‘Voices unmet, longings dislodged,
Finally I withdrew.’
- {Shall I Speak Again?}

As the reader peruses through the next couple of poems, one is pleasantly surprised to notice the wonderful variety in the themes of the poetry of ‘From Dulung to Beas’ by Shri. Jaydeep Sarangi! There are a few poems in which the reader can observe and appreciate a curious mix of long and short lines. The following lines from ‘Life Beyond’ are good examples of the high level of evocative and synaesthetic imagery.

‘A quiet walk,
from somewhere takes me to a strange part of life
where I am the instrument among living divides.’

Another interesting feature of the book is the use of quotes to reinforce the meaning of the poems. The intelligent quotes by C.S.Lewis are very appreciable.

 Some of the poems reveal the poet’s sense of empathy for those suffering and this includes himself. Both ‘If I Were A Downtrodden’ and ‘Living Alone’ are good examples of such poems.

There is a lingering effect of the villages, the flow of time, the trees and forests, the rivers and other elements of nature in many of Shri.Jaydeep’s poems. Lines like, ‘The wind of cold absence passes by gently. The field lies quiet waiting for my marooned body,’ (‘My Old Flute’) are lines of unsurpassable intense beauty. The natural feel of the human body, the passage of time as well as the feel of nature can be felt in lines like ‘I nourish my thoughts to grow up as a ‘sal’ full tree or like river Dulung,’ in the same poem.

There is a beautiful underlying flow of sensuousness in the poetry of Jaydeep like mysterious soft kisses in far away lost lands. ‘My Old Flute’ is a beautiful reminder of this sensuousness.

 There are several heartfelt and candid poems. Candidness is an essential feature of good poetry. Poetry must touch the emotional chord of the reader. The poem, ‘When you are homeless’ does this successfully.

There are several poems in the collection, which appear to be rather simple on the surface but with deep inner meaning. ‘Your Identity’ is a very good example of this.

One of the valuable poems worth reading again and again is ‘When Door is the Margin’. The lines, ‘I remain on the door stranded, Waiting for it to be opened’ are memorable lines.

There is also an element of mystery in the poetry collection.  In the poem,‘The Tree of Life’, Shri. Jaydeep Sarangi brings out the inexplicable nature of life, where many events happen simultaneously. Sometimes, certain events make sense but there are many others, which defy rationality.

Poems like ‘21st February’ reveal that the Poet has not merely kept himself aligned with personal issues but has also addressed issues with both social and political leanings.

There are many beautiful poems with a rich mix of different imagery and with the usage of the enjambment technique. Lines like, ‘I sit near the bank of Dulung And whisper in love lost

Like long trees in autumn Barren as history books Where dry hard thoughts Write their names in black ink,’(‘Sap is History’) are spellbinding and a good example of the technical prowess and artistic finesse of the poet, Shri. Jaydeep Sarangi.

There are some nostalgic poems in the collection. There are some poems connected with the poet’s native place. The love and longing of the poet for his native place is evident from poems like ‘Kanakdurga’ and ‘Exotic Jhargram’. The lines, ‘Roads take us to a mystic land where shadows meet in a strange quarter of time’( ‘Exotic Jhargram’)are brilliant and worth reading, again and again. One senses the freshness and beauty in the soul of Shri. Jaydeep Sarangi through such lines. Such lines are rare and reveal much about the sensitivity of the personality of the author. His love for Jhargram is like Arun Kolatkar’s Jejuri. Sarangi’s  hometown Jhargram has a soul. He revisits his ancestors, playmates, bygone days and happy childhood by means of poetry.

There is also a certain earthiness in the feel of the poems of Shri. Jaydeep, which is sure to be felt deeply by the reader.

Shri. Jaydeep’s devotion to the cause of the dalits is evident through his poem in ‘We Exist’, which is dedicated to Shri.Manoranjan Byapari, a leading Bangla Dalit writer.

The poetry collection is also having poems on friendship like ‘I am ready with my painted house.’ There is a poem dedicated to late Prof. Dr. T.V. Reddy, a well renowned litterateur and academician and scholar. It is one of the many heartfelt poems in the collection.

Lines like ‘My Tales are flowing like a river, With Marang Buru on my left, On my right, a lion Durga is riding’ (‘Playing Near the Banks of Dwaipayana’) are spellbinding with their strikingly vivid imagery. The language is very metaphorical. They appear as deep allusions. The Goddess Kanakadurga (A version of the Indian Hindu Goddess, Durga) is forever on the mind of the poet, Shri.Jaydeep! One is able to feel the pride of the poet in his native land through poems like ‘Bengali Baul’ and ‘Playing near the banks of Dwaipayam.’

The book is filled with powerful and vivid imagery and metaphors. The book is also replete with memorable one liner grooks like ‘The Moon makes no one lunatic’ and ‘Lovers are stoic’.

The poetry of Shri.Jaydeep Sarangi resonates with the poetry of contemporary American poets. There is a great emphasis on the heartfelt and candid expression of emotions in the poetry of Jaydeep ji! The readers will love the experience of the warmth of loving words full of empathy and sincerity. This is a book, which will please every reader!