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In these fifty
odd poems, nishi chawla has tried to use broad
brush strokes in order to convey her own raw
impressions and experiences of Indian women and
Indian goddesses. That the poems are vignettes
may lead the reader to focus on a possibility:
the face of a goddess conjoined with that of an
ordinary woman, thus humanizing one and
elevating one or the other. The poems also make
us see connections and parallels between the
lives and experiences of Indian women and Indian
goddesses.
In writing
poems on such a broad subject and scope, the
poet can only hope to make her own kind of
contribution to rethinking mythologies and
poeticizing their present relevance. Some of the
poems here attempt to offer lyrical and
contemplative links to social constructions of
gender. Others reach out to connect Indian women
within the current globalizing web and impetus.
However, in
her own words, every poet and every writer has
his or her own agenda. nishi chawla has hers.
This is to paint poems.
nishi
chawla
nishi chawla taught English in
Delhi University for nearly two decades before
leaving for the United States in the late 1990s.
She lives with her husband in a suburb of
Washington D.C. She earned her Ph.D. in English
from the George Washington University,
Washington D.C. Currently, she teaches
Literature courses at the University of Maryland
University College, Maryland. In addition to
being an academician of long standing, she is a
novelist and a poet. Her first collection of
poems, Iraq War Memorabilia, was published in
2006. She is presently working on her third
collection of poems on Indian Men, Indian Gods.
To
read an extract, click
here
To read
a review by
Deccan Hearld, click
here
To read a review by
Sahara Time, click
here
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