BOOK REVIEW: ‘Solitude and Solace’

Her maiden attempt at penning down an anthology of poems primarily centered around the themes of melancholy, betrayal, disquiet and solitude, Andleeba Mushtaq,a twelfth-grade student, hailing from the town Khrew, Pampore reveals her odyssey. This expedition is one she has embarked upon to fight against the specters that her past unfolded across various periods. Her book “Solitude and Solace” is a quintessential expression of her struggle, resilience and fortitude. An age, when children engage in playful activities, exuding a profound sense of elation by being immersed in mirthful pursuits. In this epoch of her existence, she felt an inner calling, leading her to take a serious stance on life, demonstrating reflective insights into her personal life and some intricate matters that evaded grasp. The young poetess was met with some hauntingly harrowing episodes that unfurled in her life, leaving her entirely crestfallen and the days that ensued were bereft of sunshine. She later on, sunk into despondency, failing to illuminate her gloomy life, when the moon became obscured by opaque clouds. Fear and hopelessness loomed even larger over the horizon, plunging her deep into the valley of sorrow. After much reflection and her father’s unbounded support, a glimmer of hope emerged from a distant vantage point as she found an outlet to vent out her deep entrenched emotions in the form of writing poetry.

In one of her poems, ‘The Tug of War’, Andleeba expresses her struggle for liberation, drawing an analogy to a caged bird’s quest for freedom. She perceives her past as prison wherein she is trapped, her continuous fight at breaking free is suggestive of her struggle for liberty.
In the poem, I was to her, “she sheds light on her treatment she receives at the hands of her friend. She showers upon her profound love and affection, reserving a revered place within her heart exclusively for her friend. Every act she undertakes to nurture this bond goes unrequited. Conversely, her friend plots malevolent schemes aimed at perpetuating her suffering.
Andleeba, in the poem titled as “pain” speaks of her deep sense of longing. Her pain grows intense as fails to fill this void that her friend left. Here, she lays emphasis on her friend’s omnipresence, despite having receded like a faint whisper in the distant past, leaving Andleeba ensnared in a tumultuous state of bewilderment.
In her next poem, “Helpless”, the speaker communicates the idea of profoundly being struck with the fear of particularizing her grief which further deepens it, when she finds herself alone sailing a solitary boat across the sea of sorrows. Although, upon her new discovery that people have mastered the art of keeping their grief shrouded and make a real pretense, she is inundated with an overwhelming sensation of relief. The fact that people too have become captives of sorrow brings her a sense of elation.
She goes on talking about her tears in the poem “Rainy Night”. Her tears, she thinks, are attuned to a rainy night when she lets her tears flow down endlessly only to avoid being seized by the claws of weakness.
The speaker goes on talking about her tears in the poem “Rainy Night”. She brings to light the notion that her tears hold a deep connection with the essence of a rainy night. During this introspective moment, she recalls a time when her tears flowed ceaselessly, finding alignment with the incessant downpour of rain. This emotional cascade was not merely an expression of vulnerability, but rather a deliberate act of evading the clutches of fragility. By allowing her tears to flow, she crafted a metaphorical shield against the looming grasp of weakness, finding solace in this profound reflection.
‘Solitude and Solace’ is an embodiment of the author’s intimate experiences, written in the form of poetic expression. Within its pages, the verses adopt the poetic form as a vehicle to explore the themes of friendship, self-love, betrayal, and the poignant nuances of melancholy. Throughout the collection, the poet’s introspective musings traverse the terrain of personal experiences, shedding light upon the manifold facets of her emotions.
Several of the poems within this collection offer a poignant contemplation of the anguish that stems from separation. In these verses, the poet’s emotions lay bare her tough struggle as she grappled with the agony of a friend’s desertion, a wound inflicted upon her heart by the unexpected abandonment. These verses unveil the intensity of the pain that ensues when one is subjected to the wrenching hurt of such a betrayal. The speaker carries a heavy emotional burden of deep grief. To find relief, she uses poetry as a way to express her feelings and find comfort. Through her poems, she lets out her emotions and creates a path to deal with her intense feelings, like a therapeutic outlet.
“Solitude and Solace” is a tribute to how people transmute their personal suffering into literary reflections. The book serves as a painful reminder of the complex fabric of human emotions and the transformational potential of poetic expression in the face of hardship through the study of themes as complex as friendship, self-love, betrayal, and melancholy.