An admirable literary piece

O P Sharma
Name of the Book : Shabadanjali
Author : Anu Gupta
Language : Hindi
Genre : Poetry
Publisher : Rohini Printing Industries, Rehari Colony, Jammu

‘Shabadanjali’ is the second anthology of poems from the pen of an aspiring poet Anu Gupta. Her first book of poetry in English titled “Enigma of Life” was published in the year 2021 and this second book in Hindi titled Shabadanjali which was also published in the same year, comprises 72 poems covering various aspects of human life and depicting human emotions as well as conflicts in a very simple yet impressive manner.
Her notable poems include ‘Nav Chetna’, ‘Mere hisse ki Dhoop’, ‘Rangmanch’, ‘Akanksha’, ‘Aatmic Kshan’, ‘Pratyaropan’, ‘Anboojh Paheli’, ‘Saarthi’, ‘Aurat ke kirdaar’, ‘Vedhna’, ‘Aakrosh ki Andhi’, ‘Mujhe Udne Do’ and many more. The author has vividly portrayed sublime feelings and thoughts through her poems. Her poems reflect her emotional side as well as her sensitivity while choosing the topics of grave concern.
She seems to be a poet on a mission to bring a reform in society through her pen. Her poems can become a source of inspiration to budding writers as well as for the youth of the next generation. Her mother being a teacher played a major and constructive role in inculcating a keen and learning attitude in her right from her childhood that has paved her path to pen down myriad facets of human life despite having no legacy in the field of poetry.
In the poem titled “Aatmic Kshan”, the significant stanza opens as follows:
Aata hai Kabhi-Kabhi
Jeewan mein aise kshan
Jab hota hai Manav ka
Apni atma se sakshatkaar
Un kshano mein hoti hai anubhuti
Un kshano mein hota hai ehsaas
Woh Ishwar nahi hain humse door
Hai uska hridhay mein hamare vaas
(Moments arrive in human life, when one comes face to face with one’s soul. In those moments, one experiences an insight and comes to the realization that the Almighty is not far away from all of us, but resides in our hearts)
This is just an example and I have to say that other poems too are equally impressive, profitable and meaningful to the readers.
The poetry bears the stamp of quality in another stanza of one poem”Rangmanch”:-
Jeewan hai ek rangmanch,hum sab hai kalakaar
Nibha kar sab ne hai jaana apna-apna-kirdaar
(Human life is a theatre and we all are actors.We have to leave this stage after playing our roles)
One more stanza in poem “Aurat ke kirdaar” appealed me so much:-
Jeewan mein har aurat,Nibhaati hai kayi kirdaar
Hrini hai tabhi to aurat ka yeh sansaar
Dee hai aurat ko ishwar ne aseem shakti
Prem ke madyam se hi to karti hai har abhivkayti
(Each woman in her life, plays different roles for which this world remains indebted to her. Even God has bestowed women with supreme power and she expresses her feelings only through the medium of love)
In an interview with Anu Gupta, she underscored the importance of ‘words’ and said that when words are weaved skillfully and exquisitely, they convey a great message by taking the shape of prose or poetry for vivid expression of ideas and information. The experiences which a writer goes through in his/her life or by minutely watching the experiences of others, enable a writer to put those experiences into words. This flight of imagination sometimes takes his/her thoughts to a world of fantasy or sometimes lands into a world of realism which find their expression in the form of a book ,manuscript or a document as a bank of knowledge.
When asked how she finds time for penning poetry or prose despite being on a responsible post of Administrative Officer in J&K SC, ST & BC Development Corporation, she replied that whenever she finds moments of solitude, words flow freely and effortlessly on paper resulting into the composition of new poem.She also added that she is pursuing her passion of composing poetry in her spare moments without ignoring her family as well as official duties .
This poetic composition ‘Shabadanjali’ has its own style, compiled with simplicity and beauty of Hindi language with richness of vocabulary. The poetry is lyrical as the rhymes and rhythm of each poem is making it very impressive. Rightly, she has justified the book by choosing its title as Shabadanjali as she has definitely paid a tribute through words . Through this book, She has also given tribute to her parents, Dharma Vir Gupta (father) and Sharda Gupta (mother) by dedicating the book to them.
This book consists of 98 pages and has an attractive cover page revealing the image of author designed by budding artist ‘Samanvay Gupta’ This book is well printed on pages of superior quality and the font is easily legible even to the readers with poor vision.
‘Shabadanjali’ is an admirable literary piece well knitted in simplicity and the beauty of Hindi language. In my view it touches the rank of high quality of Hindi poetry. I have gone through this Hindi poetry composition ‘Shabadanjali’ and found myself engrossed with in it. I think that the readers too, including academicians, students and youth will find it profitable for them. It is expected that the poet would continue to pursue her literary pursuit by contributing in the field of Poetry through her ideas in times ahead. Wishing her good luck in her future endeavours and writers like her can prove to be an asset to the society and a torchbearer for the future generations. The book is interesting and must be read by one and all.
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