VOICES: Voices of Interdisciplinary Critical Explorations (A Peer Reviewed Journal)

120 Pages·2021·3.46 MB·English

by  Rajul Bhargava (Editor), Shubhshree Bhargava (Guest Editor)

Volume11• Number2 • October–November2021
VOICES
Voices of Interdisciplinary Critical Explorations
(APeerReviewedJournal)
GuestEditor
ShubhshreeBhargava
VOICES
1-GHA-4,JawaharNagar,Jaipur
Voices(VoicesofInterdisciplinaryCriticalExplorations)
Volume11 • Number2 • October–November2021
ISSN:2230-875X
Publishedby
Prof.RajulBhargava
1-GHA-4,JawaharNagar,Jaipur-302004
MobileNo.:09828150140
E-mail:[email protected]
Distributionpartner
RawatPublications
SatyamApts,Sector3,JawaharNagar,Jaipur302004(India)
Phone:[phone]
E-mail:[email protected]
PrintedandboundinIndia.
Contents
Editorial v
TheCitadel viii
ManasviniRai
UnwindingSelf:Forewords x
RajulBhargava
Section I – Articles
1 WhenCovidSetstheStage… 3
AnuradhaMarwah
2 NavigatingMindscapes:Kafka’sStories 11
BandanaChakrabarty
3 ASearchWithin:AlltheLivesWeNeverLived
byAnuradhaRoy 20
S.Asha
4 DisplacementinSearchofRaisond’êtrein
theWorksofGabrielleRoy 29
NidhiRaisinghani
5 NatureReverberations 38
MadhuriChatterjee
iv · Contents
Section II – Poems
6 SudeepSen 45
7 LakshmiKannan 49
8 AsiyaZahoor 52
9 PriyaSarukkaiChabria 55
10 SukritaPaulKumar 69
Section III – Fiction
11 AwakeningfromDrohakaal:AnExtract 75
SangeetaBahadur
12 Bloodstone:AnExtract 81
RashmiNarzary
13 ConnectingtheDotsinthePresenceoftheAbsent 86
DevapriyaRoy
Section IV – Review
14 SusheelKumarSharma’sUnwindingSelf:ACollectionofPoems 91
MaximBorisovichDemchenko
15 TheDeathoftheWolf(LaMortduLoup) 94
JayaChakravarty
Contributors 97
Editorial
Scape?
Inbotanyitmightbealeaflesspeduncle,seeminglyabeyant,quiescentbut
pregnantwithemotionsthaterupteitherintolavasspewingfromwombed
volcanoes or into happy hued inflorescences. Be what it may, its the
ulterior pulse that beats the rhythm from the marrow of one’s soul and
takescolourfromfragmentsoftheselfstitchedwithitsshadesandtones.
Inner?
Psyche? Psyche originally meant “butterfly” in Latin. Aristotle wrote Peri
Psyches, “on the soul”, and believed that it was a representation of our
innermostunconsciousself,theinnerworld,arealitynotknowableinits
essence,sometimesilluminatingatothertimesunsettling.
Innerscapes?
A path lined with crewelled yew trees; where the beamless air suffocates
and everything is not or is once alive; where the within winds storm and
rage and form faces unrecognizable; where pieces of Pleiades dot the
murkysky.Asadulcimercinchedinagreenvelvetsack/Tobedamagedis
to endanger – taunt as the stark/Throats of castrati in their choir…/ (Lucie
BrockBroidoHowcanItBe/AmNoLongerI)
Innerscapes?
Where one goes to explore the wreck, the wreck not the story of the wreck,
thethingitselfandnotthemyth;Igodown/Rungafterrung…/andthereisno
one/to tell me where the ocean/will begin…/I have to learn along/to turn my
bodywithoutforce/inthedeepelement.(AdrienneRichDivingintotheWreck)
vi · Editorial
Innerscapes?
Where–
Wewearthemaskthatgrinsandlies
Ithidesourcheeksandshadesoureyes…
Thisdebtwepaytohumanguile
Withtornandbleedingheartswesmile
Andmouthwithmyriadsubtitles
PaulLaurenceDunbarWeWeartheMask
Innerscapes?
Hereisthedeepestsecretnobodyknows:hereistherootoftherootandthe
budofthebudandtheskyoftheskyofatreecalledlife;whichgrowshigher
thansoulcanhopeormindcanhide.(eecummingsicarryyourheartwith
me)
Innerscapes?
Whereonedelvesnotonlytofathomthedamagedonebutalsotogleanthe
richesthatprevail,courageouslymappingthetreasuresandstringingthem
intodreams.
What follows here are explorations that paint a checkered canvas of
thenervesandsinewsofourInnerscapes.
Unsaid Nothings
Letmeclosemyeyesanddream
Ofgreenerpastures,ripenessabounding,
Ofmountainsloadedwithdandelions,
Ofskiesscatteredwithazureclouds,
Ofwavessinginginthebrightseas,
Oh,letmedream..
Formybediscold,
Adeserthasdraggedintoitsfolds,
Thegreynessofthenightrelentlessly
Dampenseveryothercolour,
Smilesfreezeonthelips,
Thethroatischockedwithsoot,
Armsandlegsweigheddown,
Withtheloadofunsaidnothings.
Editorial · vii
Illusions
Manypreciousthingstimefadesaway
Becomingbutshadowsfromthepast.
Andtheriverofmemoryflowsonandon
Buryingthemunderitsloamysoil,
Sodeepdownevensilencecannotgetthrough
Wrappedforeverindenseoblivion.
YetIwaitonthebanks
Onsultryforlornevenings
Forthevapourstoriseup
Stirringripplesforillusions
Inthereflectionofmurkywaters.
SubhshreeBhargava
The Citadel
Manasvini Rai
The final mystery is oneself … Who can calculate the orbit of his own
soul?—OscarWilde,DeProfundis
Voyagers–weary–saunteron
beneathanotherwinter’swhip,
it’sawandering
atbest,
…performers
bridgingthechasm
betwixtpsyche’screation
andpersona’spurpose,
Totusmundusagithistrionem1
wontedadage,
atidysumoftales
bequeathedbyforbears,
theplayerremains
acovertcontaineroffortuneandwoe,
for,
boththeshootingstar,
andthebrokenmirror,
residewithin
thecitadelofthesoul,
serendipityandaffliction,
vyingforthewin,