Book name: An Encounter with Death
Author: Dr. Bhawani Shankar Nial
Publishers: BlueRose Publishers
Publication date: October 2021
Blurb: The anthology is a collection of poems on the theme of consciousness of death or rather being conscious of the impending end, the philosophy of death, God, salvation and the intricacies of leading a life while being aware that it is a well with an uncertain bottom.
Review:
The book begins with a short note on how death is inevitable, something that clings to every living being and how deeply rooted it is in the lives of humans who are aware of and express their emotions. The author also makes sure that death is not just a theme of the book but something that embodies itself as this book southafrica-ed.com. In some faiths death is something that is to be feared for and there is usually the idea of afterlife that is associated with it. Dr. Bhawani Shankar Nial says, “thinking about death doesn’t trivialize life.” It is obvious that he wants people to know, understand and accept the fact that death is something that can never be completely ignored nor can it be trivialized.
There are almost 41 poems in this book. It takes me by surprise how different ways could something as death be interpreted. The fact that we know close to nothing about death and what happens after is something that is creepy and mysterious at the same time. Also the fact that we have so many people who talked about it in the past adds to the vibe. Some poems like “As you are coming”, “The last letter” and “I write” underlines the role of language as a medium of expression. And some poems have very powerful imagery that will evoke a kind of sadness in you. One particular poem that had such attributes was “The very night”. The author uses so many symbols like the moon, the river, flesh, the body itself, the grave etc that are so realistic. Some poems talk about our own death, the death of our loved ones and the crisis we have with our identities.
It will take an eternity to write about each and every poem in this book because they are so heavy laden with different emotions. One interesting thing that I noticed is that the author mentions something about “a daughter” . It is very mysterious yet digs your curiosity. The author also talks about so many things about the flowery life, the dark shadowed death and the idea of salvation. If you’re looking for something that has deeper meaning and leaves you hungry for more, this is a good read.
LitGleam Rating
4/5
