Dr Pragya reviews a book, forget-me-nots, by Srinivasa Rao Sambhangi, exclusively for Different Truths.

Srinivasa Rao Sambhangi’s haiku and senryu collection, forget -me-nots published by Hawakal Publishers, 2022 is highly intriguing, playfully layered and well-endowed with rich imagery. The miscellany of ideas and perceptions is bound to birth mixed feelings that treat your senses like a therapist. His Midas touch turns intangible into tangible with ease and the manner in which he transforms common images into a breath of fresh air validates the success of his rhetorical skill that never fails to stimulate the reader’s fantasy. The brevity in his writing style lends an air of gravitas and undeniable charm to the verses. 

Pleasure

There is a subtle art in seeing beyond what is visible to the naked eye in one of my favourite poems Srinivas captures the essence of solitude while he revels in moonlight and sets the mood right:

winter moon
all the doors
I thought I shut

Another one captures the essence of being conscious in the moment of solitude and knowing that even nothingness is never empty. He has beautifully penned here:

between two hills
a songbird
and its echo

Pain

Srinivas picks up energy from all corners and sometimes you wonder how he feels everything so deeply. The beauty of his senryu is that he can make the readers feel the same way he experiences it personally. This aspect furnishes his work with a certain credibility. Here are two very strong words that moved me: 

x-ray report
she says I have
nothing to see
 
father's grave
before I reach
the blossoms fall

Effects of War

It is said that when a poet deeply engages with poetry, he/she experiences its meaning and emotional impact through mind and sense connections. Srinivas’s maiden work also deals with human suffering in general, which reveals his poetic sensibility. He can plunge into a war zone, fetch the powerful emotions and pour them into your heart to feel the intensity of damage the war entails. 

war hero
stealing the light of 
thousand widows

He subtly draws our attention to the man-made concept of borders created purely as a consequence of power and politics. The world is a borderless home for all other creatures that remain indifferent to the human way of the world. His strong organic connection with nature empowers him to smoothly glide between two different forms.

border firing
not all birds fly
one way

Satire

Srinivas also qualifies as a polished satirist as he uses irony to underscore certain aspects of human behaviour or social constructs prevailing in contemporary society. He does it with essential purity and authenticity.

earth day event
the village chief grants 
a deeper borewell
 
my in-laws' house
she is asked to feel
at home

The poet not only masters imagery but also the fine use of metaphor by underplaying the undeniable reality of human behaviour as in:

prison garden
some grow revenge
the rest remorse 

It is truly impressive to see how he manages to extract thought-provoking images and various subtleties from the perspective of different roles that he plays, be it keen observer, son, father, husband or stranger. The refreshing collection of haiku and senryu offers everything on a reader’s plate to satiate the appetite for a good read. I thank him for this enthralling and unforgettable gift called forget-me-nots.

Cover image sourced by the reviewer

Dr Pragya Bajpai

Dr Pragya Bajpai, Ph.D. is a poet, editor, and academic serving at the National Defence Academy, Pune. She is a postgraduate from Lucknow University and has received her PhD in English Literature from Banaras Hindu University, India. She has authored two collections of poems titled A Potpourri of Proverbs (2021) and Conversation on Cue (2023), co-authored with Shefali Nautiyal. She has edited five anthologies celebrating the armed forces.