Book Review: Nautanki Diaries by Dominic Franks

Nautanki Diaries

Author: Dominic Franks

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Rating: 3.5/5

If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine- it’s lethal. Dominic Franks, 38, believes in exploiting the limits of human mind and strength. He came into the news after his successful expedition from Bangalore to New Delhi on a bicycle. Brimming with moxie and the required fortitude, Franks set out on this expedition on his Hercules DTS (better known as Nautanki) and spent 22 days on the road.

‘Nautanki Diaries’ is a conflux of travelogue and experience. With strong and eloquent narrative, the book proves that the author is a man of acute perspicacity. A perfect companion, Nautanki, passes the muster. By the time I reached the beginning of Franks’ journey, I had already started believing that there were two protagonists of the book- Franks and Nautanki. With such apt personification and unambiguous description of the hypnagogic surroundings, this book aces the test.

This travelogue lacks superfluous soliloquy and mundane descriptive paragraphs. Instead, it offers an insight into the common human foibles. When Franks learnt that his mentor (ideal), Shikhaari, had completed a similar expedition in 1982, he made up his mind to be a witness to the 2010 Commonwealth Games after reaching Delhi successfully on his bicycle and he did it!

With an interesting cover and a precise blurb, Nautanki Diaries is offbeat yet amazingly impressive. The author’s prowess lies in narrating his experiences in form of words. Overall, a good read and an interesting literary feat!

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Book Review: Making a Poem by Vihang A. Naik

Making a Poem

Author: Vihang A. Naik

Genre: Poetry collection

Publisher: Author Press

Vihang Naik’s “Making a Poem” is a collection of several poems written in a skilful manner. The best part of this poetry book is that the poems are not restricted to one particular topic. A protracted process, composing a poem is not an easy task. The poet has presented the various segments that become a part of the process of writing a poem. A colossal amount of thinking and a superfluous flow of words are not enough to express ideas on paper. Categorized into different stages like ‘Are you looking for the poet?’, ‘A poet as a young man’, ‘Making a poem’, ‘A poet comes alive’ and ‘A poet’- this book explores the surfeit of emotions.

The cover of the book is apt and nice. However, I could not ignore the awkward spaces between lines and the missing capitalization in many poems. For me, that is a grammatical error (but in case that was done on purpose, I would love to know more about it).

The verses or stanzas are easy to understand and have been framed beautifully. The poems have an exclusive depth and reach out to a wider horizon. The poet has been successful in putting forward his perspective. Perhaps the poet has gone over all the topics with a fine-tooth comb and eventually has gotten down to a fine art.

Most of the poems do not follow any particular rhyme scheme. The free verse doesn’t fail to impress. I wished, however, that the book’s title were more interesting.

Overall, a good read with an enjoyable collection of poems!

Book available at:

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Book Review: Ujjain by Steffen Horstmann

Ujjain

Poet: Steffen Horstmann

Publisher: Patridge Publishing India

Poetry is an art and the poet is a possessor of uncommon vision. With the success of the first book- Jalsaghar, that not only catered to the minds of the contemporary readers of Ghazals but also impressed the conventional audience, Steffen Hortsmann has now come up with yet another successful anthology of Ghazals- Ujjain. There are certain concepts and views of our society that cannot be expressed by mere words. However, Ghazals is one source where words idealize the reality and represent the things accordingly, thereby igniting the mind and enlightening it.

Like I mentioned in my review of ‘Jalsaghar’, ‘Ujjain’, too, is comprised of couplets that majorly possess a rhyme and a refrain. The beautiful amalgamation of Eastern and Western realities and the poet’s prowess to extract the clandestine miracles from the prosaic life are worth appreciation.

Read the complete review here.

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