Nandita Samanta is an upcoming contemporary voice in the field of Indian English literature gaining momentum through each of her excellent poetic measures and contributions to modern literature. I have been visiting her timeline to relish the poetic feasts that she serves to the readers at length. She is a highly sophisticated and well-brought-up lady with her classical wits and wisdom.
Scattered Moments is her debut poetry book through which she has portrayed her extraordinary talent of composing poems aesthetically. She has been an active member of the literature world. She is an artist and painter by nature and was an esteemed teacher professionally. She composes her rhymes with heart and chisels them with her mastery of language. She puts in extra carefulness and effort to make her verses a rare beauty.
Her poems are well-crafted, and mature in meaning which provides a soulful treatment to leave her readers in an enchanting wonder. The theme of her poems is versatile that I can prophesize her ultimate future as a poet of substance. From her girlhood days, she has been having an innate urge to write poetry, which got realized a few years back.
Nandita's book is a product of a mind that is restless and vibrant, with a micro-fine sensibility as well. Her poems are full of expressions and rhythm that show her deep passion; a passion that enriches and nourishes her poetry. The very first read exemplifies her vast knowledge of mythological characters. She invokes the arrival of Zephyr to satiate her brimmed desires. She calls the west wind that brings rain in the spring season to arrive and rejuvenate nature as well as her, and she wants to become rain-drenched in emotional feelings for her companion.
Come Zephyr, the world is waiting
for a fresh shower of spring;
I'm waiting to be taken to your world. [Come Zephyr ]
She yearns for the most tantalizing elixir, the potion of love by her beloved alchemist so that he may allow her to cease with each drop of its pulsating love. She wants to drink it till the last drop from the flask of her lover, and die without any complaint.
The last drop... let me drink
from my lover's flask
that can make these sweet
tormenting moments last. [Elixir]
How fantastically she conveys her feelings of divine love that unfold a million desires though she is away from him, her wings of delight runs into a trance. Here the poet makes her readers feel the stirring presence of love within her through her imagery. The intense aroma of passion makes her bloom like a flower in spring and she undulates in ecstatic waves.
A pleasure unfolds within
As if petals blooming in spring,
In your intense undulating aroma
Gets drenched, my mortal aspects
Unclasps all binds and rises,
Leaving behind vulnerable emotional fragility. [Never Too Late]
Love is not always reciprocal, not pleasurable, and sometimes it is painful, but true love never fails and pain can evoke immense pleasure, some can die happily in love. The rotation of days and nights goes on. The poet sees the dying stars every night which flings her to the next day. Thus she remains busy with her daily routine but she feels lovelorn even if she is left behind in grit and charcoal.
I love to remain lovelorn
In my night star's cuddle
your unrequited love to cajole. [Your Nightingale]
The poet expresses a deep passion for a lost love, the lover is reluctant to give up her hopes and believes that her love resides somewhere in the darkness and doesn't want to welcome the dawning sun which can break her illusion. She proclaims.
I don't wait for another dawn,
for it holds no interest
Face in the shadow pretends to be you
My empty inside substitutes, in hopes I may rest. [Substitution]
Poet is impregnated with seeds of desire and wants to deliver the ecstasy boldly. And thus invites the lover to satiate himself in her oozing passion, elaborating-
My lips hold the nectar
Oozing from an unfathomable heart
That has bloomed to its fullest
Inviting for a drink. [Joyous Communion]
The night is mystic and to add to its mystery, the poet in an invigorating essence weaves the tapestry of the darkness, the celestial beauty of the moon, and the wind skilfully in the following lines.
In a semitone
in night's whisper...
moan together
with the Moon and the Zephyr
Voice unvoiced thoughts...
break prolonged silence...[Dream]
Sometimes memories elate and sometimes bite deeply or corrode from within. They are a part of our life, no matter what we try to forget they keep coming back in gusto or apathy. They fascinate or nudge.
Memories that I seek to forget
flicker like embers in a grate;
singeing my moribund life
escaping on a clamber. [Memories]
Reminiscing love that once was euphoric, but now has lost the zeal the poet captivates with her lines.
Recalling the fervency of the bygone night
Still exhausted bed laments and sighs. [Changing Colours]
The entire day is toil for survival, tired one retires for the night hoping to rest and dream beautifully fulfilling the unfulfilled desires and praying for a better brighter tomorrow. Here the poet explores the advent of such a moment where the failing, falling light nourishes nannies a night in its cuddle.
Dusk lays its bosom for the night to feed
When my dream grapples for a hold of hope. [Togetherness]
As a woman sometimes the poet feels vulnerable, divided between recognition and lost identity, smothered by thankless mechanical responsibilities, she doubts her existence.
I believe I live in
belief and skepticism
divided between extant and extinct,
sometimes a woman, sometimes no one.[Unseasonal]
When one tries deciphering relationships the complexity of it surprises, and the truth often is dumbfounding. Some standing at the crossroad of life are indecisive and lost. Poet paints such a situation in her poem Black Hole. Lines that caught my attention
Love twirled in the turbulence, churning out the relationship
Then vanished into the darkness
Empty soul watched in dumb silence. [Black Hole]
Nature is so enthralling and its beauty is so seeking that people forget the pain and discomfort in its lap. Just like a mother's lap is the safest heaven for a child, so is nature's lap for all living beings. Poet is amazed by the beauty of nature at night. The sky at night looks sequinned and exotic, and the silhouettes in the distance add charm to the mystique of night. Poet expresses her overwhelming feeling through these lines
In the lap of nature, forgetting all duress
Enthralled, I stand under the blanket of darkness
Watching the cosmic beauty and nature coalesce. [Neon Light]
Poppy field is always associated with death and the sad memories of Flanders. Poet feels this is unacceptable and highlights the beauty of a poppy field at different hours of the day in her way. I'm delighted reading the closing lines of her poem.
My heart yields to this stunning presence,
The crimson ground a divine nascence!
Not all poppies' blood red fed
Not all poppies grow on the dead. [Poppy Field]
In her poem "Be My Ocean, Me Your Tide" she wishes to glow celestially.
Let me melt, let me flow,
Let me shine, celestially glow
Illuminate me your affection
Engulf my being, in your loving elation
Serenade me to a boundless eternity
Kissing, caressing, loving with timid honesty
Love me, trust me, be my pride
Be my ocean, me your tide.
Though humans are only a tidal wave in the vast boundary of the absolute oceanic existence they try to complete the circle of life via love in some form, passionate or spiritual. Like John Donne, the poet depicts an exaggerated expression of her love and proclaims that love is no more away from her reach, it exists as breath in the chest, ink on the nib, and tongue in the mouth
Say, there's a mere eyelid's distance,
Between me and you
, we have waited for infinity
To live in this affinity
And tell them it's true
Moving on an axis in me
You're a world born anew. [Say]
After going through these poems I have an overwhelming feeling for the mighty soul, of Nandita Samanta and I hereby attest to her promising future in the world of International poetry and literature. Self-knowledge is always a provisional achievement; the poet has started her journey of achievements with excellence and will go a long way. I wish her much success.©
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