Sushant Thapa’s this poetry book titled as “MINUTE’S OF MERIT “ With a gripping cover page has been published by Haoajan Publishers at 35 / 1A , Manohar Pukar , Road , Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
The author of this book is fromBiratnagar, Nepal. He’s the author ofthree other poetry books: The Poetic Burden and other poems ( AuthorspressNew Delhi, 2020 ) and Abstraction and Other Poems ( Impspired, UK ,2021). Loves Cradle ( World Inkers Printing and Publishing New York, USA , Senegal, Africa, 2023 ). He is an English Lecturer , teaches at Nepal Business collage , Biratnagar , and Master’s level at Degree Campus, Nepal. He has also published in print and online school books , anthologies around the world.
He’s also an Executive Member of Swopnil Literature Society, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Gopal Lahiri , a poet and critic from Kolkata, in his foreword written for this collection of poetry “ Minutes of MERIT “ writes that Sushant Thapa’s this poetry book doesn’t offer only a close look into the daily life but also his remarkably creative Philosophical musings .
Gopal Lahiri being, a critic , giving critical analysis of the book , further writes in the foreword that the real joy of this book lies in its bold, energetic expression and openness, Sometimes creating a sense of triumph and togetherness. Sail between the locales , his poems are the painting that speaks the conventional realism with relative ease and unforced moments of lyricism. This book positively buzzes with desire , truth and unshakable refusal to stay within a confined space and stands out for its sheer promise and startling originality and quietness.
The book has seventy three poems in it,on eighty eight pages.
Most of them are short , very short and some are fairy long .
According to my analysis all the poems have been beautifully crafted though in simple diction, have strong contents , giving profound and powerfulmessages to the world. The poems are written on varied topics like , reality, passion, power , empathy, existence, faith so on . Though these are the commonly known themes on which verses are often crafted,the interested , Voracious and skilled poetry readers will find the book greatly worth reading, as the way and to the extent the poet has versified his experiences, knowledge etcon the already mentioned themes is inspiringly different. The beauty of the poetry of Sushant Thapa doesn’t lie only in its profound meaning , lofty thoughts and simple diction but also in the images almost of all types he has used. According to my analysis, the visual imagery is dominant all through his poetry.The poetry of Sushant Thapa is a free verse poetry as no poem has any rhyme scheme and metrical pattern. His poems reminds me of Walt Whitman, Who is known to be the “ Father of Free verse” though he himself has not claimed it .Being a reviewer not a critic, I can’t claim beauty of the content and depth of Sushant Thapa’s poetry limited to my analysis. It must have more of such thingsthan what I observed and felt .
Now I briefly pen down about a few of the poems in the book,what I felt or got after going through them .
One of the beautifully crafted poems from the book is titled as “ Nepal ‘
This is the birth place or native place of the poet
My country , when I left you ,
I did not become of anywhere .
I write, I need to find words to sing a song about you .
The poet in this poem expresses patriotism; the feeling of love , devotion and sense of attachment to his country( which we all must have ) , Nepal after having abandoned it for some reasons. The abandonment of his country, makes him feel as if he belongs to no where. When he remembers his land which according to him is incomparable to any other land for its alluring landscape, he yearns to write and sing in praise of it , falls short of words .Rest , beautiful content of the poem will be found by the readers on their own .
One more poem in the book is ; “BEING A POET” It’s a short but beautiful poem in which the poet expresses his yearnings for being a Surprisingly different poet .It’s really an interesting poem for poetry lovers to read .
Another nice poem in the book is :”RELIGION”
What I know about religion
Is what I believe in .
The religious poem has been crafted by the poet, conveying the message about his strong belief in the religion of one God, all powerful, the creator of the universe, which he further writes in it .The ideology in the verses of the poem, related to the religion the poet believes in , is worth knowing.
Each poem in the book is unique for totally different contents .
One more nicely crafted poem is titled as ; “NATURE”
From the depth of the planet
Every creature, silent and vocal
Exists and shares the fruitful nature .
I realize it to be an interestingly profound poem , the poet draws the pictures of many captivating things that guide him ,makehim forget his being alone and soothe him .The opening crafted verses of this poem let know that he looks into the nature or the planet,Earth keenly , finds the creatures of all kinds, living and sharing thethings existing for their survival. I suggest the readers to go into the depth of the poem , it really reveals the exalted thoughts of the poet .
Another beautiful poem in the book is ; “PASSION “
In this poem the poet considers ‘ passion’ as a weapon to kill the pain and continuity as a mantra to excel .
It’s a known factthat passion for procuring something doesn’t let one to stay at rest .It gives one a power and one goes on struggling to achieve one’s goal.
Though one experiences a lot of pains while wrestling , gets a long lasting relief after achievements .
Caged Bird, Blank page , Rainbow, Time and Evening grief are some of the very short poems in the book with profound thoughts .
One more beautifully crafted poem that I like more is ; “ Tools of compassion “ In the poem the poet considers, Kindness and forgiveness as the tools of compassion, that can’t be questioned andwhat the poet further writes in poem must be read.
It’s not possible to throw light oneach poem in the book.
But I suggest reading the book as it contains exalted thoughts, powerful messages versified in simple diction that can add more to the poetry reader’s as well as writer’s knowledge
And can broaden the vision of the poets to write more broadly on the themes written in the book, in their own way or style.
I wish more power to the poet’s pen .
The author is a poet, reviewer and co author from India Kashmir District KupwaraHandwara and He works in a private Secondary school , Hill Park International school, located in his native town, Handwara.
He can be reached at :[email protected].
