Ponder Awhile by Mohit Misra – Book Review

Poetry! This word has a charming effect on many people. Literature could not be as aesthetic as it is (without poetry). I have been reading poetry for many years. I began reading serious poetry during my early college years. And it continued after that. Every year, at least 10-12 poetry collections do appear on my study table. I enjoy reading poems by poets from the past and also some contemporary poetry collections. The venture took me to come across Mohit Misra’s Ponder Awhile. The third edition of this book has appeared with the subtitle ‘message from the light’. The title and the subtitle are compelling, I won’t lie. However, these two, together, can also demand certain things from the readers – attention, careful observation and expectations of seriousness in themes the poems deal with. You will get that when you read this poetry collection.

The poems in the collection deal with various subjects. Most of the poems talk about life, some talk about death, some about memories in the past and some about the things to come in the future. However, one thing that remains constant throughout the poetry collection is the presence of religious, spiritual and philosophical thoughts. The poet has tried to convey serious messages through the medium of poetry. And for poetry, the poet has chosen a very simple, rhyming and lyrical form called Doha.

Most around are so lonely,
Content are some on being homely.
The second hand is ticking by,
Time so often has made me cry.

The lines I have quoted above are from a poem called Curiosity. The poem depicts very much the curiosity of us all in very simple terms. There are many other poems that can get along with the thoughts and emotions of the readers at large. And this explains that the poet, Mohit Misra, has the ability to understand the nature of humans, the needs and aspirations and expectations in general. Many poems depict many things about common people that we witness every day. Likewise, there is a poem called Focus and it has lines that tell:

Who is the foreigner? Who is the alien?
We are one in your plain.
What exactly is my purpose?
Right now, I am unsure where to focus.

The lines above express the concern of us all. We are often confused about our identities and that of others. However, when we sit and ponder for a few moments, we can come to the conclusion that the poet has expressed. We are all but one…

Ponder Awhile goes beyond day-to-day stuff in our lives. The poetry collection brings to the fore the deeper and graver philosophical and spiritual concerns. The author has used the medium of poetry to express his personal realisations and understanding of the world. He has tried to share his personal moments of ecstasy that one feels only in sync with the divine. On many occasions, in this poetry collection, you will come across lines that bring the wisdom of ancient India (through scriptures and civilisational memories). I enjoyed those parts very much. And more than that, those parts also explain that Ponder Awhile has much to offer than what meets the eyes in the beginning. Hidden beneath the common layer of poems, there are many things that one might need to uncover by digging deeper into the world that Mohit has created with his words.

So difficult to concentrate on one point,
The way for the soul and super soul to get joint.
Back to the past and into the future,
This mad mind one needs to nurture.

You can read in the lines quoted above how the poet discusses the concept of Atma and Parmatma. The thing that we all know, somehow, but seldom discuss in day-to-day conversations. The poet has tried to bring these aspects of our culture into the poems in his collection.

Yes, one might feel that the style, diction and presentation in this collection, at least in a few poems, are crude and rather direct than what we generally find in the poems. This might be the case with those readers who read poems at large. However, once you start getting into the depths of these poems, you will seldom think about the form. Content is rich, deep and enjoyable once you start making sense of it. All the best!

You can get a copy of this poetry collection by Mohit Misra from Amazon India by clicking the link below:

Get a copy of this book – click here 

Review by Guddu for The Last Critic