Book Review | Chand Ehsas | Criticspace

In the world where prose is advancing rapidly and poetry seems to be somewhere lagging behind, “Chand Ehsas” is a breath of fresh air with fresh new thoughts. Nisha Tandon’s “Chand Ehsas” is a poetic record of the poet’s experiences with the passing of the years of her life. In her collection of 101 poems, she has explored different shades and colours of poetry. Unlike any romantic or neoclassical poet, she cannot be categorized under one category of writers. She pours out her heart and writes all the things she sees and notices.

As per the biographical details mentioned in Tandon’s other collection of poetry, “Footprints”, the reader can understand what went into the making of Tandon as a poet. “…multi-dimensional exposure in different arenas of work. Her exuberance and passion towards children…” Her daughter’s diagnosis of down syndrome motivated her to spread awareness and work for children with special needs. This reflects in her work off and on.

The moods of the poems keep changing and it becomes apparent how the poet has been observing and recording all that she has witnessed and felt doing complete justice to the title. There is a series of different “Ehsas” (realization), many together, but once each.

The themes and subjects she writes in are diverse and wide. She talks of abstract subjects in her poems like emotions, the philosophy of life and the fickle nature of human beings. At times the mother in her takes the pen to express herself. A person with a little biographical idea about the poet can trace the maternal feelings through the words of the poems. In poems like “खुदा की नेमत”, “एक बेटी”, “तू”, “तुम सब कुछ कर सकती हो”, the readers see the proof mother encouraging her daughter for every possible venture.

The moods of the poet change as sometimes she becomes nostalgic reminiscing her childhood days when times were different in poems such as, “एक पुराना खत”, “अधूरा वक़्त”, “खत की दस्तान” and at the same time she shows her humorous self in poems like “Gym का स्यापा” and “बिन बुलाए मेहमान”. She adds a patriotic tinge through poems like “पुलवामा से बालाकोट” and “शूरवीर अभिनंदन”. 

In this manner, the reader gets to know and hear not just the experiences of the poet but also has a chance to know her as a person and how much she has learnt in her life. Like a true artist, the nature of her work is sometimes serious, sometimes introspective, and sometimes reflective of her biographical details but no matter she may be sad or dejected, she always ends things on a positive happy thought. The length of the poems varies. Some are long, some are short, the stanzas differ or they may not be there at all. Some poems are deeply personal while some are not. But even in the personal poems, the reader can relate himself/herself with what the poet has felt herself. This fills her style with depth yet it remains experimental due to the exploration of wide and diverse subjects. The language is simple and appeals to all who have an interest in reading poetry. The appeal of the poems is not restricted to any particular age group or gender. Everyone, irrespective of their ages can read and enjoy the poems.

Sometimes she takes the feminist mode in poems like “एक नई ज़िंदगी”, “एक नई उड़ान”, “ऐसी होती है माँ”, “माँ”, “मेरी माँ” and “मैं हूँ”. 

Two themes that dominate “Chand Ehsas” are life and friendship. Life does not simply imply breathing. But rather all the things that come in the package of life which include learning, experience, people, various events in life etc. In poems like “उलझन कोई”, “एक नई सीख”, “ए ज़िंदगी गले लगा ले”, “ज़िंदगी”, “ज़िंदगी आसां तो नहीं” and “ज़िंदगी का सफ़र”, her perspective towards life is clear.

At times she also talks of social issues in “कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे” and “धर्म को रहने दो तुम बेज़ुबान”. This shows that even though she is imparting life’s philosophies and enjoying her motherhood, she has not lost the touch of reality and is aware of what is going on around her in the world beyond the boundaries of her home. In some poems, the poet uses images to convey her ideas.

So to conclude, author has done a fair job with her second book as well. Her first book, “Footprints” is a Poetry collection which already stolen the hearts of Poetry lovers. I hope, I will be sharing my reviews on that book as well, looking for the review copy  Nisha, this time tried poetry collection and she proved that she can do a fair justice with poems as well.