PROLIFERA VII
That day when a human first walked on Earth… was it morning, afternoon, evening or night? I often wonder about things that took place before I could witness them, or things that might happen in the future. There are no particular reasons but I think because humans are curious beings, I tend to explore the possibilities of this world, and the existence of the theory that there are multiple spaces within our own consciousness.
EKL Review is a kind of journal that nurtures words, roots of thoughts, aspirations of humans, and curiosity of the readers. Each edition of the review brings forth sublime ideas that are conceived in some humans’ core, crawling out at the right time through that darkness which leads to a bright pathway.
In this 7th Issue, if we are looking at the poetry section then we are witnessing some fine poets breathing around the world. Among them we have a young poet who has embraced life and Autism; her poems are vibrant and full of life. May our Sherin Mary Zacharia witness the most beautiful rainbows that the sky can offer.
Why do poets choose minimum words to tell stories?
This 7th edition of EKL Review can explore with you the path through which the stream-of-consciousness works. The poems of each poet will transport you to those lands in which you imagine, dream and move forward to reach your goals.
I would call them 15 gems + 1 gem collector.
It’s up to you to find out those gems and the collector. For now, my job here is done. I am off to another journey, which perhaps will take me to more words, and more wonders!
Anindita Bose (Poetry Editor – Issue 7)
Dreams connect your subconscious mind to the subconscious soul of the Universe. In dreaming we travel different realms, like dots connecting our past, present and future ‘self’ to another world. In dreams we live and search for worlds beyond worlds. In dreaming we foresee things beyond our understanding, things we crave for, things we become, things we leave behind, things lost in time, things full of dust and things we silently endure for a world that can help us heal like the static flow of water in our core. In the dream realms of sleep and sleeplessness, the stories of the human condition are born, like a grain waiting to germinate and push through the soil to reach out; stories wait to hold minds in their world. At the core of such dreaming are intuition, belief, faith and the powerful Universe connecting us all together. In our psyche, we follow our course, cross paths, deviate, disintegrate into the search for the light and somewhere meet again in dreams.
In ‘The Sandman’, Morpheus, the king of dreams, can change reality, the past events, the ‘waking world’ if the people share the same dream. He holds the key to the world of dreams, the power to build and co-exist with the human world, the power to dream by following our set path and overcoming our fears. We daydream and we dream in ‘the dreaming’ to find inspiration, hope, life’s meaning and the will to live to tell our stories.
In ‘The Reader’ Hanna dreams of mastering the art of reading and gets engrossed with the skillful reader, Michael with whom she has an affair. Years later, she faces a trial, ashamed of her illiteracy, she admits the false charges against her for a lifetime of imprisonment, where she finally learns to read and write and fulfill her dream in a life changing situation. In ‘The Book Thief’, the young Liesel finds ‘The Gravedigger’s Handbook’, a book hidden in snow near her brother’s grave during the Holocaust. She dreams of writing when she gets engrossed in the world of stories in such dark times. She tells stories to groups of people during one bombing night to keep them hopeful, while she learns to read and write in the basement with her Jew friend, Max, whom her foster parents shelter.
In ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’, Walter, the protagonist constantly lives in the dream world; his heroic daydreaming is an escape from his problems of the real world. But eventually it also helps him realize the truth of his life. His dreaming is powerful, almost real and surreal at the same time.
In ‘Finding Forrester’ Jamal, a young football player, struggling to adjust with his African-American identity, dreams of becoming a writer, he then rekindles the desire to write again through a very famous Pulitzer Prize winning author, Forrester, who has given up writing after his brother’s death.
In ‘Quarantined’, the story by Richa Wahi, she writes about a middle-aged daughter held back by her paralyzed father, dreaming of doing something once the quarantine is lifted and sharing that hopeful dream with her father.
Shikhandin’s story is about a doting bother Vir dreaming of getting his sister Shalu married, while dealing with his fears. Maitreyee’s ‘Chand Kopali’ talks about the little boy Apu’s dream of a homeland. Sucharita’s old uncle Martin walks in loneliness and the dream of companionship.
Rochelle’s Pratibha tightly holds the key to her world of dreams, which gives her a sense of ease and belonging. Devika shares the dream of two childhood friends meeting again. The stories in this issue of EKL Review are like dreams, giving you realms to enter and experience. You will find in the book reviews a sense of wonder and dreaming in Bitan Chakraborty’s ‘Redundant’ reviewed by Sutanuka Ghosh Roy, Rishiraj Pal’s review of Richik Banerjee’s ‘…Urine, Yoghurt, Psychotomy’ and Neha R. Krishna’s review of ‘An Afternoon in My Mind’ by Sonnet Mondal. Namrota Purakayastha’s essay on Laura Mulvey’s ‘Female Objectification and Role of Women in Mainstream Bollywood Cinema’ delves deep into the surreal world women dream of existing in. Kiran Bhat’s interview by Paresh Tiwari will take you on a journey of an idea materializing into a dream weaving real time, realms, people, souls and dreaming.
Sufia Khatoon (Prose Editor – Issue 7)
August 2022
RUCHIRA SEN
JOHN GREY
LINA KRISHNAN
CONNOR FISHER
SHREY RODRICKS
ANTARA MUKHERJEE
CHAYANIKA SAIKIA
VIKAS SEHRA
SMITHA SEHGAL
NITHYA MARIAM JOHN
TATHAGATA BANERJEE
PRIYANKA ADHIKARY
SRIJANI DUTTA
INDU PARVATHI
RIMIKA BANERJEE
SHERIN MARY ZACHARIA
Nabanita Sengupta, Ananya Chatterjee and Amit Shankar Saha – Unmesha: A Photo Essay
Sutanuka Ghosh Roy – Open Lesions: A Review of Redundant
Neha R. Krishna – An Afternoon in My Mind – Book Review
Rishiraj Pal – Letters/Litters: “where in the waste is the wisdom?” – A Review of …Urine, Yoghurt, Psychotomy
Kiran Bhat – Interviewed by Paresh Tiwari
Rochelle Potkar – Women
Sikhandin – Shalu’s Wedding
Maitreyee B Chowdhury – Chand Kopali
Sucharita Dutta-Asane – Interlude
Richa Wahi – Quarantined
Namrota Purakayastha – Laura Mulvey, Female Objectification and Role of Women in Mainstream Bollywood Cinema
Devika Das – Panch Patthar (5 pebbles)