Category Archives: Uncategorized

Title: Winter Poems

Author: Sabarna Roy

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 60

The poems contained in this collection, Winter Poems, by Sabarna Roy were inspired by the relatively mild season that prevails in Kolkata following the season of festivities, the Durga and Kali Puja, and portray myriad shades of human life. Some of them deal with the imaginations of death and home while still others the idea of loss and coming to terms with gradual wasting of life. Many aspects of human life and commonplace human impulses are examined and brought to life through a range of imaginations and varied metaphorical associations. The poems are sure to delight the readers and generate a whole range of emotions among them.

Winter Poems is a collection of intense poems on diverse topics.It has been divided into two parts “Winter Poems 2010’ and “Winter Poems 2012”.The book contains modern poetry. The second part rather seemed like micro-tales. I am not a huge fan if modern poetry but the wordplay and the way sentences were formed are strong enough for the reader to think about each poem deeply. Though it’s a short read, it isn’t a quick read, the reader needs to understand every poem.

The book can be improved with editing. Though themes were interesting, they weren’t common. Poems of different topics followed another. I was expecting poetry but it rather felt like prose and micro-tales.

This boy monk visited me yester-night and asked me

“When do you plan to die?”

I said:

The day I’m sure my children no longer require me by their sides

The day my queen finds me boring

The day I’ve seen blood on my hands- blood from the vessels of a few of my enemies

The day I’ve unlocked angelic faces of my evil

The day I’m no more affected by the sighting of a beautiful woman.

3/5

Dear Parents Raising Boys,

You can be the change makers. Lightened candles, signed petitions have always had our back but now we need you to be the catalyst. We have come a long way and yet there’s a long path that awaits us.

We recently saw bois locker room conversations, groups on instagram by teenagers of South Delhi sharing pictures of underage girls and talking about their bodies. At the same time few conversations of girls’ locker room. You can read this article by Prishita Singh for more information-

https://lawcorner.in/bois-locker-room-are-we-all-really-startled

As soon as the conversations leaked, rage and anger grew in people all over social media. It blew up twitter. Hashtags like #girlslockerroom, #boislockerroom and #notallmen were trending for quite a few days.

All of it felt as if a fight between men and women each proving their innocence. People were using one wrong to justify another wrong. All of us failed to understand that it is not a fight of men against women but instead a fight between the ideologies: the ideology of feminism and the ideology of patriarchy.

Patriarchy began ages back. Since then, we have been trying to fight patriarchy. But at the end of the day, women are taught to “be careful”, to “cover themselves”, etc. We can’t blame our parents. They have always meant well for us.

We have often heard,” We trust you, We don’t trust the world.” They can’t end patriarchy or sexual assault while the parents raising boys, you can make this world worth trusting. Teach your son he is not ought to protect us rather he is to ought to respect us. Teach your son about modesty, personal space, feminism and healthy masculinity.

Fathers your son will learn how to treat women from you. Teach him well to make the world worth trusting for daughters.

Title: The Rape Trial

Author: Bidisha Ghosal

Pages: 548

The cover is beautiful and thought provoking. It attracts the reader.

This book is set in the city, Badrid Bay. The home of the protagonists. As the title suggests, this book follows the story of Avni Rambha who was raped by Rahul Styabhangi. But Rahul Satyabhagi got away with it because of his father’s clout in the city. He further became men’s rights activists. Nearly after a decade, a sting operation has proved he had been lying. Now, Rhea, Haitaishi and Amruta are to take an action against it. The book further unfolds the plot.

As soon as I read the title, I picked the book up and it didn’t disappoint me. The book has a lot more than its title; it does contain the rape trial but it also explores the thoughts of the victim, friendship, power, crime, politics and revenge. This book has been pleasantly suprising.

I LOVED the writing style. The dialogues and conversations had depth, bringing us closer to the story slowly. It’s a huge book and has a complex plot but the writing style makes it easier to read. I don’t like big books. I rarely read them but the author kept me gripped till the ending. The story starts with suspense and the it is there till the last. The characters and the backstories have been built carefully.

The book makes the reader question themselves of how many times they have turned blind eye to the harsh reality. It changes perspectives and is an eye opener. This book should be read by everyone, it speaks on the topic which needs much attention.

“Imagine a world where you can walk out and no one ogles you,” Hitaishi said. “You can go wherever you want no matter what time of day, wear what you want, let any part of your body jiggle and bounce and not think about that bloody bra strap.”

“The law is not justice. Laws are punishments, and they come too late and at immense cost to the victim. Justice lies beyond the law. You line those boys up and shoot them between the eyes. That’s justice.”

“We’re all taught to hide these things, treat them like a small thing. Especially when it comes to who the boy is. It’s this bizarre split in society where the boy doing it is nothing wrong, but you’re wrong because he did it to you.”

“Rape isn’t just that one time of sexual violence; women have to live with it long after it’s done. Once you’re dead, it’s over. Murder, at least in my opinion, is not the best, not the most accurate response to rape.”

5/5

Dear You,

Find your zen moment. Zen is a Japanese word literally meaning finding peace in meditation rather than in ritual worships or study of scriptures. Currently, it is commonly used as feeling peaceful or relaxed.

Find your zen moment. Find the things that make you happy, people that make you happy. Surround yourself with them. Surrounding yourself with things and people that make you happy is nothing else than creating magic in yourself. Be happy with yourself. Love the person you are and the person you are yet to become. Your inner peace is your first zen moment. You are worthy. You are loved. You deserve the universe. Never forget that.

With everything, try to be someone’s zen too. Try to be there for someone. Try to listen. Try to understand. They too deserve the love and happiness. Make them believe that.

Thank You,

With Love,

A.

To You,

Hey. Take a moment. Look at your surroundings. Breathe. Feel the oxygen fill up your lungs. Take a moment to feel alive.

I want you to look how far you have come and how far you are destined to be. Our life can take us miles but also millimetres, it’s us who decide. Check in what you are feeling. Feel it.

Make this life about you. Take chances. Everyday take a moment to love,be thankful and  feel. You will soon be gone enough.

“When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and
strength. Give thanks for your food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks,the fault lies within yourself” – Tecumseh

XOXO,

With Love,

A.