Indu Bhushan Sharma
Name of the Book: Mystical Musings
Author : Ashok Kumar Sharma
Year of Publication: 2023
No of Pages: 135
Price: Rs 699.00
Publisher: Bharti Publications, New Delhi
‘MYSTICAL MUSINGS’ is the fourth book of poetry in English from the pen of Ashok Kumar Sharma who, besides being a great poet, is an eminent writer, columnist, literary critic, academecian and interviewer.The book contains an anthology of 76 poems depicting myriad aspects of life such as love,agony,celebration,despair,romance etc though a few poems are based on philosophical,moral and social themes. The book has been divided into three sections namely EARTHLY LIFE (1 to 18), SUBLIME ROMANCE (19-40) and MISCELLANY (41-76). The first section revolves around issues such as transitory nature of life, existence and blessings of God, benevolence of Mother Nature, sublimity of human relations etc. The second section deals with the sublime emotion of pure love, sighs and pleadings of a lover, the immaculate beauty of the beloved and her resistance to the advances of the passionate lover due to social, moral and religious reasons.The third section, as the name suggests, focusses on various aspects of everyday life, be it bitter struggle in life for survival or crumbling human values or the need to appreciate and celebrate life as it unfolds itself.
Who can deny that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.His role has been depicted in the following lines:
He guides all the mortals for a better life
And how to live with Nature free of strife
But man is the only mortal to disobey His will
Thus,with sorrow and misery doth himself fill. ( Who doth Control Life)
The poem ‘The Big Stone’ asserts the power of Nature ,which mortals can’t combat.
‘Some people call me a boulder
Try to carry me on the shoulder
Of their strength, make a show
Yet, to my weight, have to bow.’ ( The Big Stone)
Some poems included in the section ‘ Miscellany’ deal with diverse aspects of human life.
For instance, ‘The poem ‘ When one Goes Mad’ urges the people to go behind the reason(s)
which lead to some people being insane.
‘This world is a strange place
The people have many a face
Behind everyone’s smile, there is pain
And every smiling person is not sane.’ ( When one Goes Mad)
In some poems such as ‘The Moonites’ Wish’, the poet’s imagination is at his best. He imagines the people living on the moon longing to visit the earth for her beauty and beauty of the people living here.
‘They must be watching the damsels’ gait
And so sadly, cursing their own hard fate
That they cannot come to see them all
Wish, to the earth, the moon would fall.’ ( The Moonites’ Wish)
Then, there are poems which are romantic in thought. The poet praises the beautiful damsel for her divine beauty and charm, which intoxicates the water she wades in’.
‘Dressed in bright blue
Looking fresh and new
Taking from you, the cue
Flowers changed the hue.’ ( When you Waded into Water)
Similarly,the poet describes the feelings of a lover when his beloved yawned.
‘The moment you yawned
And took a long breath
To me, at once it dawned
Now I donot fear death.’ (The Moment you Yawned)
The book has been written by a teacher who has had the experience of more than three decades of teaching English to the students of Secondery and Senior Secondery classes. Besides being a poet, he is a literary critic, interviewer, columnist and cultural warrior whose book ‘Glimpses of Dogra Culture & Heritage’ has got very nice reviews in the literary and social circles.It is worth every penny spent on it. The book is printed on the paper of good quality with a readable font and soothing texture.It is a must read for all lovers of literature especially those who are interested in English Literature and therefore,ought to be purchased by the libraries of schools, colleges & universities.
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