Neesah Magazine, A Good Read of Prose & Poetry

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In my memory, northeast India is never far from violence, insurgence, Tantric cults and practices. At the same time, it is nature’s paradise of beauty, music and dance, poetry and writings, films and paintings. Imagine then, when I saw the lady sitting beside me in the aircraft, putting away the Neesah Magazine, having consumed the last page, I begged to have a look at it.

“You can have it,’ she said generously, which I accepted without allowing her to think again.

The magazine was a mix of stories, poetry and book review. I found the stories flavoured with violence, a disturbing trend in northeast India. Love Potion by Easterine Kire, Sin and Retribution by Uddipana Goswami, Dying to be heard by Vinita Agrawal, Prem and the black rose by Kalden Gyatso, all, flirted with some form of violence in love and life. But then, why did I continue to read these stories? Just because, the style of writing was simple. The authors told the story well. Also, having come from the northeast, I visited my childhood and memories left far, far behind in years.

The poetry was excellent though, and I even learnt about Japanese Poetry, the Haiku, Tanka, Haibun and Senryu styles/forms. That was the real take away.

Last but not the least, the book review of The Lost River:On the Trail of Saraswati, by Michel Danino was superb! And I would spend the last rupee I had to have that book, after reading that powerful, thought provoking review.

Those interested in reading literature from the northeast, must surely own the magazine.

Write me an email and I will help you get the life and times in the northeast part of India, so clearly seen through the eyes of the writers.

Poetry - mila milega Milarepa

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Monk
In
Love
Associates
Rage with 

Enemy of
Prayerfulness
Anger soars

Milarepa
at dawn
the long night
of darkness
is expelled
by
a single
ray of Light
Nibbana

Love
calms
as long as
I can hear
the wind whisper
in my ear
the sound of
One hand clapping
mila milega Milarepa

Click HERE for another mila milega Milarepa poem

Book Review: Family Matters by Nivasini Publishers

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Until quite recently in fact, say ten years now, my only concern with the family was about studying a social entity that was one of the strongest bond in a human life. My own interest in mine, came just two decades ago, when, I realised after a number of years of living alone, I saw my mashi’s sari drying out in the sun in my little garden, and my eyes brimmed over with the sheer emotional upheaval the sight brought up in my memory. Naturally, I picked up the book, with a mix of positive emotion not any less tinged with doubt. But I was in for a pleasant surprise.

Family Matters is a delightful collection of short stories and poems, all to do with the family put together in an anthology. These stories and poems have been penned by over 50 authors across the 9 countries. What stikes you most about them, is, whether, it is the author of a story in Canada, or a poet sitting in recluse in some cave in the deep corner of India, stories about the family have a common thread. They are about trust, love, bonding, care and sometimes, jealousy, anger, and even hate. Yet, these feelings are common to all humanity spread across the globe.

The poems talk of things that happen on a daily basis in any family, but because we life these realities, we are hardly ever so distanced from them, to be objective about them. Lived emotions, anger, love, concern and empathy,. Even competition, co-dependency and a host of other emotions cannot really be dissected like it was something happening in the chemistry lab. And these stories and poems speak of their lived realities, as a common thread that binds people living in family.

On one level, ‘family matters’ which mean that these are to do with the family, at another level, no matter what we experience as entities in the family, family does matter, are inescapable facts of life.

For some, this anthology might be valuable because it reflects their own reality, for others, it might awaken latent appreciation of a unit in life, which has far reaching effects, especially in our world, where, the real is becoming virtual.

You must pick up this book and add it to your family collection of all things you have treasured about your family. It might be impossible, not to see yourself in the stories and poems.

The one thing I thought NivasiniPublishers, who have published this book must do, is, maybe think things through, as to whether, putting a book, marrying poetry and prose together, is really such a good idea because, when you cut and bind the book together, the poems, following the left aligned margin might just about get cut too close to the edge in the process. And this brings us to an all important point, debated and argued for so long - of what does this remind us of the most, in Family Matters?   Cast at the edge of a family, the perpetual giver is a name name which starts with ‘F’?

You may like to Get Your Copy Now from HERE or HERE