Life is not about achieving perfection, it's about reconciling with your imperfections.
Poems are fragments of life. In Simi K. Rao's unique poetry collection for women, there are blissful moments; deep, invisible wounds; cries for help; declarations of defiance and philosophical observations. The poems and prose pieces compiling the collection are fragments of life elucidating the different phases of the human condition. Under the Shade of the Banyan Tree will leave readers wanting for more and have a deep impact on women of all ages.
***
[Gods recline and mediate / Yogis attain nirvana / Banias conduct business / Councils assemble and confer UNDER THE SHADE OF THE BANYAN TREE]***
(@WD_Publishing, 30 September 2019, 144 pages, copy from @BookPubServices and voluntarily reviewed)
***
***
I'd never heard of the author before so had zero expectations for this collection of poetry and short stories, though mostly poetry with less than half a dozen pieces of prose. Sometimes it's better that way and you can be pleasantly surprised as I was reading this. What threw me a little is there seems no real link between the pieces. I'd be enjoying some beautifully crafted poems then out of nowhere would appear a story several pages long which was unexpected. I would have liked better continuity between the pieces. I preferred the poetry if I'm honest, various lengths, beautifully written and packing an emotional punch for the most part. The stories when they did turn up interrupted the flow of the poems and I sped through them to read the next bunch of poems. The score is for the poems which were a delight. The stories were well written but didn't quite each the same level as the poetry.
