Rhyme and Reason

Author Manju Jaidka’s latest work,For Reason Unknown,a collection of poems on varied themes,is a slice from her life. An English professor at Panjab University and Chairperson of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi,Jaidka,who has written two plays and a novel,says there are no ‘whys’ to poetry — it happens or doesn’t. “If I were to reason why,I would not write at all. All I know is that some urge compelled me to write and a similar urge now compels me to share it with like-minded readers,” says Jaidka,at the launch of her book at Panjab University.

The collection brings together poems on different subjects — some are ‘place’ poems inspired by the various cities she has visited in India and abroad,each location with its own distinctive qualities that are recorded in verse. There are poems on Chandigarh,which talk about differnt locations,such as the lake and university campus. Reasons Unknown comprises pieces written at different times,inspired by diverse events. “Like a tree that shoots into leaves,the poems needed the right time,place,climate and ambience. When all these factors came together,the poems took birth,” says Jaidka. The forms,too,vary with each poem. While some compositions are formally constructed in stanzas and rhymes,there are some free verses as well.

She also has ‘people’ poems,including those about loved ones who have passed away as well as a physically- challenged child who will not grow up. The seasons and other aspects of nature find a place in the collection too — the scorching summer,sizzling plains,a tornado,amaltas blooms,and the volcanic ash that grounded all flights. Jaidka stays optimistic in her poems,focusing on the “light at the end of the tunnel,the beginning of better times”,and a “positive attitude”.