Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 1, Number 1. May 2018. ISSN: 2581-7094
Reflections of Illusions
stays true to its title. When someone utters
the word illusion, what conjures in my mind are patterns capable of reversible perspective. And so does Reshma Ramesh—she
reverses the patterning that I
have of a doctor. The poetess compiled 152 poetry that she has written when she was a
young girl beachcombing the sea shores of Kota in South Canara, India until the
year 2009, almost a decade after she graduated from Banglore University in
2000. The poetess-doctor now practices her dentistry in Banglore, India,
while continuing her journey with verses.
As a principle, when I pick a book to
buy, it will never be because of first impression. I will look at the name of
the author or at least the person who wrote the introduction of the book. However, totally different with Reflections of
Illusions. It's the cover presentation of the book that made me want to own it
when I saw it laying beautifully on the lap of a very attractive lady clad in a striking brown saree. Will the content of the book compliment the gorgeous looking writer? I met Reshma
at Pulara Pangkor, one of the Annual International Poetry Meet. After getting to know each other, as fellow writers, we exchanged our books. When it was
in my hand I read the introduction, and
realised that the book is special. Actually it is a rather expensive book, being gold embossed, hand stitched, hand pasted and
hand bound with a handloom saree cloth designed in India. The layout and
lettering also went through the artistic fingers of a designer. It is such a feminine-looking book.
The outer presentation of the book is so
artistic that I am worried if the content will be too feminine—pointless, but a
beautiful woman rambling about long lost love, frustration over domestic
matters or outpouring rains of emotions. Being a poetess myself, and once
dubbed by the Malay Mail as “The Social Critic”, such poetry will turn me off. However,
after reading the first poetry “Daddy’s Darling” my heart bled.
He tucked her in bed every night
Kissed her forehead
as she slept,
Lovingly fondled
between her legs.....
She bleeds inside
Cannot play on the slide
Childhood denied, crayons cast aside
Daddy
and demons coincide
For
me, when Reshma poetizes about childrens’ misery she uses her
‘doctor’ language. I didn’t mean jargons and terminologies but clear, direct to the point explanation to
her patient or in other words facts to
educate.
With
machetes in their hands
They chop the
pods
Often when they
swing too low
They strike their
legs
often when they
swing too high,
they strike their
hand,
hospitals they
have none.........
the cocoa bean
from black,muddy
bleeding hands
sit on the shelves
of the finest
stores
where soft pink
hands pick them up
from hand to hand
the chocolate travels,
sinned on the way
bittersweet the
chocolate way
There is no poetic
devices or flowery words to make us realise what an expensive chocolate is made
of –she uses concise and accurate language but able to encapsulate ideas in the
minimum of words. How does that happen? It happens when you write with your
heart as if the emotions—the sadness, anger, fear run through your blood to move your fingers
and pen down your emotion. What does it show? It shows that Reshma is a very
sensitive person. Normally, people associate a poet with an introvert, people
who keep to themselves. But in reality, a poet is an extrovert, a person who
shares and cares, but they are using words in creative meaning ways to express
their feelings.
Actually, when her
theme evolves around woman she reminds me of one of my favourite poetess—Maya Angelou. “Still
I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman” are the two poetry that makes
me feel proud to be a woman. I am
impressed that in all the 4 parts of “As Beautiful as Me” Reshma poetize on the same context used by
Maya Angelou but of course using different approaches. All the four parts of
the poetry mainly express the capability that a woman has because of the beauty
bestowed on her and through her imagery
she implicitly shows the weakness of a man, that is woman. Her feminist stand
shines when she clearly mocks the male
species and their weaknesses over beauty but at the same time putting a guard
against them. However, stanzas in As Beautiful as Me (Part 3) breathes matuarity in thoughts and attitude.
......age
is not my foe but he is my confederate
because with age
I spice up like pickle
I
make no pretense whatsoever
for I wear no
veil, I am as open as the sky....
What interests me the most about Reshma’s poetry is the similarity between
her worldview and mine. Yes, the main
differences are clear. I am a Muslim, she is a Hindu. I am in Malaysia and she
is in India. However there are two main
points that make the way we think and the way we write coincide, moreover we
are both Asians. Firstly even how modern
and how educated we are, we still live in a partriarchal society. We are still oppressed
in one way or another by our male counterparts and as poetess we express our
dissatisfactions but at the same time we allowed ourself to be trapped in the
world full of male chauvinist. Most of us
Asian women are rather submissive to our society patterning, dont we?
Secondly, we are
mothers, daughters and sisters. We celebrate memories, good times, sisterhood, family
and most of all our own emotions. This book has an array of poetry that shows a
woman in all her facades. At one time I read the memory of a little girl in the
embrace of a loving mother, for example, in “Why I should not cry” followed by
“When I was little”, “What is perfect” and “Your Little Things”. The contents
of the poetry link to me in many ways, especially through the culture that were
portrayed. At times, Reshma tickles me
because she is able to expose me as a
woman in love through the romantic nuances and clines. Age does matter but
being in love is always beautiful for example in the poetry “I think I am in
love with you”. However I guess, as a
woman tied by culture Reshma is also quite open with her feelings about
issues involving intimate relationship with her man. In beautiful, seductive
ways she poetizes about her feelings and
emotions with the man she loves.
When I personally
complimented her on the vast themes of
her book she claimed that many of
the emotional poetry were written when she was young and naive about handling
her feeling. Sometimes she tried to step out of her skin and handle the
situations she faced.Her old poems were more about how she felt but as she
grows older she has learnt that every emotion need not to be penned down thus,
she is more selective to the topic and content of her poetry. I agree with that
because being a poetess is like going through a journey that will never end and
we learn along the way to be better and smarter.
Personally, for me
Reshma Ramesh is a woman in every way. Thanks to Reflections of Illusions.