Book Review: Asian Winds by Saurabh Pant

Asian Winds
Poet: Saurabh Pant
Publisher: Lulu.com
Rating: 2.5/5

Poetry has the calibre to melt rock, for it is a confluence of emotions and opinions. The language is often subtle yet effective. Often when the severity of certain issues cannot be understood by elocution, reading about such issues comes handier. Multiple themes and varied rhythmic tones constitute the anthology ‘Asian Winds’. This is a collection of short poems that elicit the prevailing situation in and around the Indian subcontinent.

The poems touch upon various issues like China’s dominion, tension at the Indian border, financial and diplomatic relationship among the neighbouring countries and the oceanic trade. The poems do not consist of a specific rhyme scheme and most of the poems follow ABAB pattern. The oddity becomes evident when the poet ignores the grammatical aspect completely in order to make the end words rhyme. That acts as a turn-off. Furthermore, the poet uses the first 50 pages to list his accomplishments- his stories, poems and articles. I don’t think that was needed.

The poems have been categorized into 10 different categories and each of them speaks about a different emotion. For instance, the section ‘Military Clashes Inside Afghanistan’ deals with the emotion of disgust and regret wherein the poet highlights the fear in the minds of the people when they are forced to fight their own. Often, by the time one gets into the mood of the poem, the next stanza spoils the fun. The flow is not smooth.

Overall, I didn’t find the expected depth in the poems and the verses, thus, failed to resonate with my mindset. The deliberate attempt to make the words rhyme further irked me.

Best wishes to the poet.

Buying link: Amazon