E-Paper
Review: Everything Begins Elsewhere
Poetry is everywhere, but here’s where good poetry is. It’s Tishani Doshi, so you’d expect no less anyway.
Book: Everything Begins Elsewhere
Author: Tishani Doshi
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: Rs 299
Poetry is everywhere, but here’s where good poetry is. It’s Tishani Doshi, so you’d expect no less anyway. From talking about ‘that woman’ we all dread becoming — ‘that woman who spreads her legs, who is beaten, who cannot hold her grief or drink’ — to learning mudras in Bhutan, seeing old age take over her folks and facing a lost lover while cutting broccoli on a Sunday afternoon — she shares much detail in few words, many emotions. It’s not a mausoleum of personal losses or a lesson book of life’s teachings as many a put-away poem book is; this one’s about finding a stirring something in everything ordinary you come across — from a dog’s bark in the valley to Maheshwari Snacks in Madras to cacti in coitus, the simple universal dream of family, and toy fishermen dusted off dad’s collection. None of it is heavy, verbose, preachy or prudish — it’s the kind that makes for a great mini-escape for mornings in the Metro.
