Teesta Review: A
Journal of Poetry, Volume 8, Number 1. May 2025. ISSN: 2581-7094
Review of Gayatri
Lakhiani Chawla’s Borders and Broken Hearts
--- Radhika D. Shyam
Borders and Broken
Hearts by award-winning poet Gayatri Lakhiani Chawla contains poems on
the theme of the Partition of India and on the pain of parting. Borders and Broken Hearts is dedicated to
Chawla’s father and his longing for his lost homeland. It is a tribute to the
displaced citizens of partitioned Sindh, who were labelled as refugees for no
fault of theirs and to the land of her origin now alien, distant and out of
reach. It is also a homage to her mother tongue with the translations adding
value and character.
Languages sometimes
adopt more than one script due to historical, cultural, political and
technological factors, and Sindhi falls into this category of synchronic
digraphia. This bilingualvolume has
poems in English by Chawla translated into Sindhi with transcripts in both
Perso-Arabic and Devnagari, a big boon for those who can read any one or either
of these scripts. The translations are all evocatively done - in Perso-Arabic
script by the editor Shobha Lalchandani and the Devnagari version by poet,
writer, columnist, lyricist Barkha Khushalani with poet Rekha Sachdev Pohani also pitching in.
The beautiful imagery
in the first poem “Leaving Sindh”
“…..wardrobes stripped of its identities/ suitcases filled with pangs of
insecurity” and “… a lost postcard with no address sitting in the Post Office
with a stamp reading ‘Undivided India’” portrays the uncertainties and fear
haunting the people about to be uprooted. The sudden usurping of lives in the
poem “Hiraeth” hits hard with images like the “pickles left behind to sour in the
scorching sun, chappals left in the yard and the porch lights not switched off”. In “Sindh” the reader is
transported to the lost homeland with “the cobalt blueness of the walls
of Daraza” and “a brass hookah”
and “Ajrak mattress inherited from the ancestors” thrown in for good measure, continuing with “… of her ancestors
umbilically connected” immediately
connecting Sindhi readers to this line of ancestry. The border clearly encroached upon physical spaces that were homes
of generations. The Partition infringed upon cultures and all else that comes
with it – language, traditions and culture.
The theme of parting
tugs at our heartstrings too. “Gulmohar
Cross Road” is laden with the
heavy loneliness felt while visiting a house previously resided in, a feeling
that is relatable to many. Legendary lovers of Sindh, Sasui and Punhoon and Moomal and Rano have been paid a befitting
tribute in some poems. In “Folktales”, Shakuntala’s evocative pleas to her
estranged husband, “Slice me not like an apple my love, but like the moon that
sits outside your window sill/ every night nibble a little wedge from the
corners/ savouring is key” brings in lyrical
imagery with the waning moon that symbolises yearning. In “Playing Games,” however, the parting seems to be
joyous, celebratory, rebellious and liberating. In “Gayatri,” the poet is
perhaps drawing parallels between herself and her mythical namesake, giving
glimpses of herself in the bargain.
A favourite poem is “Windmills of the Hills” with its
exuberance of love and revelation, rather than of parting, and is full of
romantic passion. The stark intimacy in the poem “Moomal and Rano,”
fringes on heady eroticism. The collection ends on a high with two most
beautiful prose poems, with densely detailed imagery, clearly showing it to be
Chawla’s forte.
The poems are grounded
in the physical and emotional wreckage of the Partition. Some poems take on a
deeply personal tone, perhaps echoing her own ancestral history, giving voice
to the intergenerational trauma passed down to descendants of Partition
survivors. They deal with heartbreak in love and homeland – both very
unsettling. The writing style is lyrical yet restrained, preferring subtle
suggestion and metaphor over statement. The emotional weight is very evident in
the words but the language is simple and straightforward. These short poems
carry the weight of entire lifetimes.
Borders and Broken
Hearts is not just about those lost or displaced but a testament
to a quiet dignity of survival. In an era where geopolitical boundaries
continue to fracture human lives this collection reminds us of the emotional
consequences behind every line drawn on a map. Its core theme of forced
migration during the Partition and the turbulent grief it leaves behind
resonates with the sentiments of the affected community. Circumstances might
have forced people to evacuate Sindh but clearly the land and its ethos could
not be erased from the psyche of its displaced habitants and will be passed
down to their descendants for generations to come.
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