Blogchatter Ebook Carnival- Dots and Streaks (Book Review)

Life’s principles are subjective. Yet, if viewed stoically, the philosophies of life apply to all and sundry. However, it needs the heart of a poet and a great emotional connect to visit life the way Ellora Mishra does in her debut book of poetry, ‘Dots and Streaks’- a collection of twenty-six pieces of writing.

About the Author

Ellora Mishra has a degree in Chemical engineering from BITS Pilani and Masters in Business Administration from XIMB. Having taken a short break from her twelve-year long corporate career, she has put her time to good use by pursuing her passion for writing, photography, reading and travelling.

The Book

Two striking features that lift up any book of poetry include the cover image and the introduction. Ellora skips embellishments and sets pace with a pastel shaded front cover, that symbolizes the profundity of life. Coincidentally, Pastels is also a poem that appears in the collection.

The opening note is by life itself. Says she,

In randomness I thrive

And collages I smear

A few dots there

A few streaks here

Enough to give you a glimpse of the poetic synergies in the book! The blurb is equally apt. It says,

A few dots

A few streaks

Short poetic tales

Musings of life’s

Crevices & creeks

But this is just a trailer. There is abundant poetry in the book. And when I say that I accommodate beauty, rhythm, music, reflection, musings and affability. The poems flow seamlessly and effortlessly. For instance, talking about Apocalypse, she says, ‘Just about a door’s knock away/ Awaited the apocalypse anyway/ And all you could do/ Was only wait with bated breath/ Behind the closed door/ For this, too, to pass/ And pass this will too’

You hear something familiar in her poems, as if they talk of your own life, and yet an aspect you may never have pondered upon yourself.

The Ego of the Candle is one such poem, where she subtly places a candle to explain how man’s inflated ego is nothing more than farce. She uses a candle to give you a bird’s eye view of life.

As the light started to dwindle

On the fading droplets of wax

The wax tried to cling on

To the last ray of light

The candle is a mere speck without the light and vice-versa, although both live in an inflated bubble of self-importance that bursts a little too soon.

The Nightingale’s Song beautifully depicts the idea of self-worth through a nightingale who is told of the futility of her crooning.

‘The nightingale smiled and answered/ Because it wasn’t in them that I was looking for my worth/ For in others if I look for my worth it will always waver/ As my value… is what only I can seek in myself…but none else on earth’

Of the multifarious aspects of life that she draws in her book, there’s one about prejudice in the way one looks at things (Obscurity); she questions the norms of the perfect and the imperfect (Let it Be!); draws an amazing contrast between the life of a maid and her ‘maydam’ with both acknowledging what’s quintessential in their lives (Quintessential); and talks of savouring the ‘passing moments’ because ‘afterall how much ever you devise/ Life’s topsy turvy paths always have ways that defy’ (Knapsack).

There are also some prose pieces few and far between, which are nothing short of poetic reincarnations.

Concluding Remarks

‘Dots and Streaks’ is definitely more than just a few ellipses from the pages of life. These poems are a metaphorical journey into everyday living that trickle like music in the ears. A lover of poetry is sure to savour them; to a lover of life they are the warm blanket of deep winters.

To download the book for free please click on the link below,

https://www.theblogchatter.com/download/dots-and-streaks-by-ellora-mishra/

My book UNLOCKED is also available for free download. It is history in verses and maybe downloaded here for free,

https://www.theblogchatter.com/download/unlocked-by-sonia-dogra/