Title: Sisyphus is Happy and Selected Poems
Author: Sanjana Saksena
Published by: Notion Press
Format: Paperback
Publication Year: 2019
Pages: 38
Price: 180 RS
Review by: Rupesh Madhukar
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Sanjana Saksena’s poetry collection is promising in terms of the art of communication in verse. It is sound in the messages that it conveys. It is solid in the lines it draws. Only 10 in number, the poems are all provoking in whatever thoughts they emit. Sisyphus is Happy and Selected Poems by Sanjana Saksena is the latest edition to the ongoing prolongation of the horizon of Indian English poetry. Moreover, it is one of many additions on the list of books that have been reviewed by Ashvamegh Magazine. Without wasting the time and exploding the intro, let us get into the content of this collection and find out more about the book and the poet’s art.

The first impression that any serious reader of poetry may have would be a frowning surprise by seeing the number of poems in the collection. However, once a reader will begin reading the poems one by one, this impression will die quickly. Sanjana’s simplicity that lurks in her poems all the way to the end is remarkable. She conveys what she has to without any stretch in the wires of imagery – well, that may seem dry to many readers and to many, it may just be what they want to read in the name of poetry. There will always be a line that distinguishes the people who believe in traditional continuity and those who rather conform with the idea of newness and simplicity added to it as a bonus. For the latter, Sanjana’s poetry is a treat!

She begins with Sisyphus, the guy who is chosen for the title task, and tells the readers that Sisyphus may well have a reason to feel happy and content. Problems are the mirrors that let us realise our strength. She writes with retrospective sense and compares the fate of two ladies – one of the Troy and another from the Mahabharata. The subjects of other poems are also noteworthy and I will not mark all those down because there must be something for you to explore for yourself once you read the book which will not consume more than 30 minutes of your life.

Something that I would like to express about the poetry of Sanjana Saksena is that she is one of those poets who like things to be served to their readers in an uncomplicated manner so that they don’t have to work very hard in decoding the message. For Sanjana, as it seems, the poetic depth should not be deeper enough that makes it an abyss rather than a swimming pool – pleasure is better than the pain of getting pleasure. Her language is simple and her imagery is contemporary, dry and devoid of lustrous scenery – mostly seen in the poets who live in the fairyland of past.

This is a collection for the readers of poetry who like reading poems that they can decode at the same time as they read. For the readers who have read enough poetry, Indian and otherwise, this should be an experimental collection that would offer them a sample of contemporary Indian English poetry.

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Review by Rupesh Madhukar