Description
As light from the stars
pulsates,
the syllables
of a timeless chant rises.
At the dance of destruction
is the song of a new beginning.
Death’s hunt is foiled.
Poem after poem, the fragile wings of the golden butterfly flutter around the reader captivatingly throughout Arjavam, starting from the mystifying dedication itself. If there looms the intense awareness of death, there is also an acute awakening to the stories of the reborn and nirvana. In harmony with the soulful words, the illustrations in the book sit well with the quiet temper of the poems. To achieve the grandeur of Raagam, there had to be to be a coming together of the right rhythm, precise notes and a suitable beat. The lingering haunt of Geetha’s poems vouch for such an experience.
— Sukrita Paul Kumar, author of Vanishing Words
In Arjavam, Geetha Ravichandran takes us through the sensory power in the everydays. She explores uncomfortable worlds with empathy, restraint and deep sensitivity. She speaks from the point of having lived, witnessed and experienced these moments. Honesty shines through in the urgent call of the voice. Pause. Look. Listen.
— Shobhana Kumar, author of A Sky Full of Bucket Lists
There’s no falter but only a sense of startle as we begin to read. In her first book, Geetha Ravichandran weaves an illuminating narrative of the commonplace — moments and events bound by memory’s all-seeing motor. Without yielding to theatrics, her voice, the voice of the valiant, carries a self-effacing confidence rooted in resilience. The effulgence of her words is only a callsign of the once fragile and vulnerable, now awoken and expressive of everything that will no longer be hushed.
— Soni Somarajan, author of First Contact
Geetha Ravichandran is a bureaucrat originally from Chennai. While she has been writing consistently for several years, she has only published intermittently. The pandemic revived her interest in poetry. This collection of poems is her first book.