Twin books,Same Author: A peek into the works of Poet Saranya Francis

On 4/11/ 2017, I attended a book release of " Ambedo" by Saranya Francis at the Sapna Book House, Residency road, Bangalore. It was an interesting evening of passionate recitations from the book with insightful comments from the panel. .One thing clear to those present was that the poet Saranya Francis was equally comfortable before a mike as she was in  writing. She fielded questions from the panel and the audience effortlessly and passionately. After all, she is also a trainer and teacher apart from being a poet. The program was followed by the book signing. I was perhaps the first person to purchase the book and get it autographed by the author. I left soon after, the experience of a pleasant evening lingering in my mind....

Cut to 20th September 2017. I am on a train from Bangalore to Guntur to attend the Guntur International Poetry Fest. Couple of stops later, a lady entered and occupied a seat next to me. Initially, I felt her presence a bit intimidating and therefore did not speak to her. However, a little later I ventured to ask whether she was Saranya. I had been told that a Poet Saranya Francis was also traveling from Bangalore to attend the fest.It turned out that she was infact Saranya and  it was an interesting coincidence that we ended up as co- passengers! 

From then on,we got chatting and time simply flew. One thing that came across clearly was that Saranya was a very open and transparent person. She talked freely about various topics and aspects of life including bold personal decisions that she had taken in her life. One could see that she was proud of being a woman and valued independance a lot. By the end of the journey, we had become friends and Saranya presented me her maiden book "Being Purple" with a remark " Here's to more such conversations". She also informed me that her second book was also ready to be launched with just the final touches remaining.

The free spirit and independance of the poet can be seen in both her works, "Being purple" and "Ambedo", Based on the tone  and tenor of her writing, Saranya could be described as  a 'feminist'. Ofcourse she writes on other varied subjects as well including nature and spirituality. My own understanding from her books/conversation with her is that, she is very protective of her individuality and independance, but  does not bear a grudge or have resentment towards the other sex. It is more about coexistence with equal rights and mutual respect rather than one sex  having an upperhand over the other.

 I have chosen to write about both the books together, as they are slim in size and in a way one book is an extension of the other, expanding on the basic nature, thoughts and feelings of the poet. Although the dedication in"Being Purple"simply states "For Appa", the book begins with a tribute by the poet to her mother Meenakshi. The lines that  particularly catches one's attention are:

"In her I lose my raging doubts,
my fears and those vile scars aghast
wanderer me, she binds with the world
in her she gives me a home so vast "   

As it is with most of us who go through the rumble and tumble of life thoughts arise as to where we are going? what is our purpose ? or as the poet asks in her poem "Who am I ? "

"Youth's lost radiance and
childhood's remnant birches
unceasingly ask me-Who am I"
vast compelling roads
where indecision perches  .
unceasingly ask me " Who am I"

We live in a word of lonliness even while being in a crowd. We are more attached to cell phones than human beings, I liked this poem called " Hugs".

"To a day of joy or a gloomy morn
you never know what a hug can do
To a spark of love, or a heart forelorn
you never know what a hug can do

Do you need to be told to take me in your arms?
Let go, let me know and see what your hug can do! "


These satirical verses in the poem"Confirm Or Perish" clearly bring out the poet's take on the subject:

"Be mum, say yes!
wait for your turn, submit!
Don't read, don't disagree
don't reason, be a dimwit "

There are many more lovely poems in the book like "Whimsical rain", "Tell me", "Rape of the lover", " scream of Silence". But in the interests of brevity of this blog, I am moving on to the second book " Ambedo". You will have to contact the publishers- Partridge, if you wish to savour all the poems!

The term "Ambedo", according to the Dictionary of Obscure sorrows is "a kind of melancholic trance in which you become completely absorbed in vivid sensory details- briefly soaking in the experience of being alive, an act that is done for its own sake". The book is divided into sections such as "Divine and I", "She". "Love" " Hope, Peace and other good things", "Angst and travel", Form and Formless" "Stray verse" and "duets". However, I am simply going to discuss those verses that captivated me irrespective of the section they belong to.

Apart from her other interests, the poet started out as a big devotee of  Lord Krishna which I believe, she still is. Let us take a look at these lines from the poem "Sukshma Krishna"

"In him I see master, my philosopher in disguise
 In him I find meaning and in his smile my failure's reprise
 In him I see the one truth he causes falsehood's demise
 In him I sense divine reckoning he is life's very premise"

Talking about the divine in another poem (don't stop looking for me here) she says

" Compassion, inclusion, acceptance and love
   is all it takes- nothing more!

The fiercely independant nature of the poet that we discussed earlier is brought out in full measure in the poem "Don't Foot my Bill"

"Don't care to pull me a chair
 Don't help open my kitchenware
 Don't think my time is always spare
 Don't think I'm born only to cook n care

Dont seat at the window sill
Don't you ever- ever foot my bill!

Some lines about a friend from school days in the poem " She and I" catches one's attention. Retaining frienship for such a long time is rare these days.

" I retreated from a bullying school ground
dusty,broken and esteem south bound
jest and mockery did menacingly resound
she reached out unmindful, I came around

Yet a pride lives unnecessary to flaunt,
Our friendship lingers like a flavoured chant."

In the poem "She", the poet talks about herself in the candid manner that she is in real life:

"Yes, I am flawed, imperfect, and slow
Unfinished and coarse, got no one to bow
but my flaws aren't coloured with falsehood's glow
My coarseness holds nothing I'd rather not show

Ranks and green wads no longer define me
one and zero diplomacy isn't all that I see
Don't threaten me with your labels of 'ought to be'
I am that, I am you, What's more? I am SHE!

Now, let us a take a look at the poet's approach to life, as articulated in the poem "Every Day":

"Everyday I find a new note of promise and truth
and the world plays to despair and gloom;
yet I rehearse my note with joy

Everyday the world fields my yesterday's deaths
yet, everyday I choose my everydays to live   " 

There are many poems I like in this collection on varying subjects such as the one on "Grand parents", " Bengaluru", " Midnight rain', " words are not enough" " This is not the train I know" and more...

Yet, all good things have to come to come to an end and  before signing off  I am quoting below  a few more impactful lines from Ambedo.

How Soundly He Sleeps

How soundly he sleeps my gentle beloved
unaware that I pine for his waking,
how soundly in my heart he's safely coved
unaware of the hours lost in aching

In him flows a philosophy of knowing,
in me the sheer burden of being
in him the peace of a 'just rained sky'
in me the mayhem of a wronged firefly"

Outcaste

Yes! I am an outcaste and proudly so
An outspoken woman who always want more
opinions aplenty and a will to do the chore
I prioritise self esteem whilst earning a decent score

Yes! I have no child yet- no biological motherhood
A vagabond who loves strangers, the way only a child would
I give without thinking in return, what the other should
I've learnt that a lioness can shelter a stray for good.

A Little Verse 

Love is a wonder that ceases to cease
and it shines so ready in your eyes.
like an infant's clasp it binds you to me
and gifts my soul to the skies...

Just Me

"There is an uncomplicated joy in being me
No pretence, no excuses just me
There's freedom in being myself
No make up, no tuck ins just by myself

There's life in being all that I can be,
No more, no less, just all I can be"   

I have had the pleasure of knowing and interacting with the poet Saranya Francis, as a fellow member of the India Poetry Circle and Bangalore Poetry circle. Often times when we actually meet people whom we have only seen on the celluloid or whose books we have read, we find that the actual person is so different from the person we had imagined.. There is no such disappointment when it comes to Saranya, poet / author,  for she is as authentic in real life as she is in  her writing.

It is this genuiness, openness, transparency and passion that is showcased in the two books- Being Purple and  Ambedo; books designed to steal the reader's hearts!


  Link  for book purchase on Amazon :

https://www.amazon.com/Being-Purple-Saranya-Francis/dp/1482821176 

  https://www.amazon.in/Ambedo-Saranya-Francis/dp/9383770279