Preview carried inside the book.
they, she & i is a book of poems and painting too. A poet’s soul. It is a book of soulful lament: to bemoan a deep grief of sorrow. A book meant to motivate all irrespective of their circumstance.
they, she & i is chaos and beauty intertwined. A tornado of pathos from within.
Who is She? She is your power, your eternal source. A victim of an acid attack, daughter of a sex worker, Nirbhaya, Malala. The Goddess. The Great Mystery. The web-weaver. The life force. At first, you may not recognize her. Or pretend not to hear. As she fills your body with ripples of terror and pain. But when she calls you will know you’ve been called. Then it is up to you to decide if you will answer.
The poems cry out that the most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen. They are created.
Except for the preface, the book is in lower case, I think, to symbolise Humility. It is the quality of being humble which is so profound in the book. The author cries out to proclaim: I love mankind ... it's their act sometimes that I can't stand.
The book is melancholic at times: gloomiest of spirits. Overcome in sorrow, wrapped up in sorrowful thoughts. A deep sadness, from a rather outward source. But in parts turns from despair to hope. Romance and Love.
The book divided in parts starts with: ‘my words and i’ being a personal story of a poet’s grief goes on to the larger picture of the nation. It also weaves a story of freedom. Though the collection ends with our flag and heroes, it is not only that kind of freedom that is portrayed here. The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little everyday ways.
A word on the cover and layout design by Vinita Kumar. Graphic of a woman whose mouth is covered with a black cloth, smouldering her to silence. Matt finished with muted colours to lay the tone of the content.