A Rich Exploration of Time and Memory
Amit Shankar Saha’s latest poetry collection, Etesian::Barahmasi, published by Penprints, is an exploration of the intricate layers of time, memory, and the human experience. The collection’s title itself holds great significance: “Etesian” refers to annual summer winds, a reminder of the cyclic patterns in nature, while “Barahmasi,” a term from Indian culture, points to the enduring influence of the twelve months on human lives, often used in folk poetry to represent the passing seasons. This collection emerges as a rich tapestry that intertwines these themes with personal, cultural, and historical insights.
Saha’s poetry often navigates the intersections of the personal and the universal, and in Etesian::Barahmasi, he harnesses this approach masterfully. Each poem invites the reader into a world where the passing of time is both a presence and a force, shaping not only individual lives but also the broader human experience. The poems pulsate with a quiet intensity, often shifting between the outer, observable world and the internal landscapes of thought and emotion.
The structure of Etesian::Barahmasi plays with the concept of cyclical time. It is divided into sections, each associated with a particular phase, season, or mood. This structural framework is reminiscent of the Barahmasa tradition of Indian poetry, which captures the emotional resonance of each month through the lens of seasons, and Saha’s use of this reflects his deep engagement with cultural and literary history.
A recurring theme in this collection is the passage of time, and how time interweaves with memory. In Saha’s hands, memory is both a liberating and confining force, shaping perceptions of the present while keeping the past alive. In the poem “In Anticipation” for instance, Saha writes: “I hang my old days/on my clothes peg beside/the chirping birds of memory. One flies/away, and I rush/out hoping to chase it/ to your door. Your address,/ I never asked, did I?”. The lines evoke a cascade of memories, a momentary portal to the past. Saha captures the nostalgia of long-lost moments and the aching awareness that, though time moves forward, fragments of the past continue to live on within us. His use of imagery, such as the “In the well of our eyes/an escaped drop will hang/and die” allows the reader to slip into the very sensations and emotions that memory conjures.
At the same time, there’s an awareness of the futility of clinging too tightly to memory. Saha reflects on the ephemerality of human experience, where seasons and years blend together, leaving behind only fleeting impressions. In poems like “Somewhere”, autumn symbolizes not just a season but also the passage of time, leaving behind traces like “a sequin/ from a birthday party” that can never be fully recovered.
Saha’s use of language in Etesian:: Barahmasi is both lyrical and precise. His poetic voice is carefully calibrated, avoiding the excesses of sentimentality while still tapping into profound emotional currents.
In “The Power of a Kiss,” for example, Saha writes:
“Before we spend
our pent-up lives
sucking our breaths
from each other’s mouths.
Until the same turns
into the kiss of life
and resuscitate us
as celestial dust.”
Saha’s style is also characterized by a seamless blending of the global and the local. His poems are replete with references to both Western and Eastern traditions, illustrating his ability to draw from a wide range of influences while maintaining a distinct voice. In “After the Ides of March” are hidden references to TS Eliot and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, while in “Cloud Lovers” he writes of the star-crossed pair as belonging to Meghalaya and the Sunderbans while the very title reminds one of Kalidasa’s epic “Meghdoot” and his protagonist’s longing for his beloved. This cultural fluidity adds depth to the collection, making it both intimate and expansive.At the same time, Etesian:: Barahmasi is deeply universal in its themes. Saha’s reflections on time, memory, and the cycles of life resonate across cultures and geographies. His poetry speaks to the shared human experience of loss, longing, and the fleeting nature of happiness, even as it remains grounded in the specificities of Indian tradition. This balance between the particular and the universal is one of the collection’s great strengths, allowing it to connect with readers from diverse backgrounds while maintaining a distinctive voice.
Etesian:: Barahmasi is a powerful meditation on the passage of time, memory, and the human condition. Amit Shankar Saha’s ability to evoke both the personal and the universal through his precise use of language and rich cultural references makes this collection a significant contribution to contemporary poetry. The poems linger in the mind long after they are read, like the whisper of the etesian winds, reminding us of the cyclical nature of life and the enduring presence of the past in our present.
Saha’s latest work continues to establish him as a poet of great sensitivity and depth, one who is unafraid to explore the complexities of human experience through the lens of time and cultural history. Etesian:: Barahmasi is a collection that invites multiple readings, each offering new layers of insight and emotion, making it a compelling addition to the landscape of modern Indian poetry.
Jagari Mukherjee
The winner of the Women Empowered Gifted Poet Award (2020),
Jagari Mukherjee is the Founder and Chief Executive Editor of the literary journal, EKL Review, and the Editor-in-Chief of Narrow Road. She has authored six solo collections of poetry–two chapbooks and four full-length volumes. Her most recent publication is “Woman and the Moon” by Hawakal Publishers. She has won numerous prestigious awards, including the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize for Book Review (2018); the Reuel International Prize For Poetry (2019); the Jury Prize at Friendswood Library’s Ekphrastic Poetry Reading And Contest (2021); and also, The Bharat International Award for Literature 2022 For Short Story. Her book, “The Elegant Nobody” published by Hawakal was shortlisted for the prestigious Tagore Prize in 2022. She has read her poetry at many festivals and venues in India and abroad.
Amit Shankar Saha
Born in Calcutta of the late 1970s, Amit Shankar Saha is the author of three critically-acclaimed collections of poems, Balconies of Time (2017), Fugitive Words (2019) and Illicit Poems (2020). He also has published a non-fiction collection titled A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Essayist (2023), an academic book titled Transitions: Indian Diaspora and Four Women Writers, and has co-edited a collection of short stories titled Dynami Zois (2018). He is widely published and has won numerous awards, including the Wordweavers Prize, has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, the Griffin Poetry Prize, and the Best of Net anthology. His poems have been included in anthologies like Best Indian Poetry, the Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English and Converse: Contemporary English Poetry by Indians and others. He is the Editor-in-Chief of EKL Review and Assistant Secretary of the Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library. He has a PhD in English from Calcutta University and works as Associate Professor and Head of the Department of English at Seacom Skills University.