Making a Poem by Vihang Naik – Review

I read – Making a Poem
Who wrote it? Vihang Naik
What Genre? Poetry
Pages – 50
Publishers – Authors Press
Rating – 5/5 stars

I have been a reader of poetry for ages now! Relax, I am playing with metaphorical language these days. The one that caught my eyes this time is Vihang Naik’s poetry collection Making a Poem. A very thin book, physically, contains 25 poems by the poet which have been divided into five different sections and each of them contains five of those. Sounds interesting, hunh?

Making a Poem, as the title suggests is about the verses which tell about the poet, poetry and things related to poetry – partially right, because the poet Vihang, whom I know, has other ideas. His poems, very short and playful mostly, contain a strange melancholia about them which will soothe those hardcore lovers of poetry who want to see the words in rough action most of the times.

“A message is the same
regarding roses and poses
that tomorrow will be dying.”
(Are you looking for that poet, p. 17)

The poetic truth is there – philosophy pops out – and it becomes further true. The subtle art of conveying has always been the prerogative of poets and Vihang Naik decided not be an exception. He writes about poet making poetry and then poetry making the poet. He writes about the odahni which made his verse and he writes about the restaurant where the poetry meets the ghazal… poetry has many facets and you will find most of them in these 25 of Vihang’s poems.

He writes in his Making of a Poet:

“did you instruct your hand to move
or make a poem?”

Once you read the poem on page number 46, you will feel (perhaps) what I am feeling right now. Vihang talks about the vast abyss that poetry is and it has spared none! As a fellow poet, I can certainly try my best to feel his ‘feelings’ but that comes different to each one of us and Vihang’s has (almost) been painted in his own words.

Well, it certainly felt very nice to read an experienced English poet from India after so many years – I left my college after MA back in 2015 and after that, I did read poets from India but not with such depth and vision in their writing. Reading Vihang’s Making a Poem certainly reflects why he is ranked among the foremost contemporary figures in Indian English Poetry!

If you are also hungry for poems, this collection will be perfect for you and you should not even think of missing it. If you are new to reading poetry, some of the poems will certainly seem only bizarre after several rounds of readings until you reach there and see the hidden meaning – maybe between the words… grab your copy now from Amazon India and dive deep into the ocean of words and finish this short poetry collection within an hour or two and begin your life as usual or keep the verse with you!

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Buy the book from Amazon India – click here