Art Of Teaching

I had the great fortune of seeing the availability of this book on Amazon and having the good fortune of meeting the poetess on various occasions in different cultural events, I was totally intrigued to buy this book.

The word IBTIDA puzzled me as I had seen this in various sites of Google like IBTIDA -AE- Awargi by Karuni Zutshi ‘Hasil’ and wedding garments collection by Amrin Khan called Ibtida.

I read the preface and understood why the poetess has used the word IBTIDA which means a new beginning in Urdu.

The book is divided into five parts aesthetically ranging from her journey in Croatia. Voyage- the actual journey, Odessey- the story of the journey, Excursion- the outing or trip, Journey – Behri Safar where Behri pertains to the sea and Safar means maritime journey, and the last one is Expedition – Faur which has different meanings but I presumed it means great distance or remote beautiful natural sphere in space or time.

When I went through the poems, I could see how the poetess was enchanted by the nature all around her and I feel she had an ulterior motive to make humankind fall in love with the beauty of nature through her poems. She has not forgotten where her heart actually resides and we can see mention of Mumbai and Kolkata in some of her poems.

We as humans face boundaries and lot of restrictions in our lives. But the poetess has tried to emphasize the fact that boundaries are manmade to offer us an outline to choose to live within the borders. But it is a fact that these very man- made boundaries will disappear when when we are able to look past them, it is the consciousness that helps us understand life more unswervingly.

          The poetess has made use of a lot of punctuation marks in the poem, and they most positively make the booklovers to comprehend the drift of sentiments and terminologies in the poem and also the highs and the lows. She finds a state of extreme happiness in nature which she has clearly demonstrated in most of her poems. The poetess had laid bare her heart telling us in Peirene *- Mumbai 1/11/23 at 7.19 p.m. how she got her inspiration to write poems through nature. In her poem ‘Love, the only answer [Mumbai]- she has opined that War is only conflict and destruction. It needs to stop and the time has come to fly the white dove of peace and spread happiness and compassion. In her poem Impermanence- [Mumbai- December 24^th], she has mentioned how she is overwhelmed by the transitoriness of natural beauty in human’s lives. She has beautifully captured the immense beauty of the seas of Mumbai in the poem – As far as my Eyes can See]. Her idea of peace in the poem ‘What is Peace’? is the peace where every human being is satiated, have friends all around and spread of happiness all around. The poetess has talked about Unity in Diversity in her poem – When all shackles break off (Mumbai). She has beautifully concocted the beauty of the Victoria Memorial and how she found love after much hurt.

          I remember the poem of Emily Dickinson’s “Nature is what we see” when I read the poems of Dr. Paramita. IBTIDA is an observation of the overwhelming and awe – inspiring features of nature. Her poems try to dispel the darkness around us today and show us the path of light through nature, peace and love.

         I fell in love with the description of the wonderful Croatia and intend to visit one day in the near future.

I end by saying that this collection of poems is a must read for all book lovers. The book has echoed the dreamy ethics, concentrating on the attractiveness of the normal biosphere and the innermost sentiments of the specific. The   poetess has captivated us through the wonders of landscape and the social skirmish to describe and express its spirit.

My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Paramita Mukherjee Mullick for this wonderful gathering of poems to inspire one and all. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

Source- Amazon