Poetry lets you experience a plethora of emotions in multiple dimensions in such little words. It is amazing what a good poetry can do to you.

‘Flavours of Life’ is such an exceptional poetry book that will not only give you a broader perspective about things around you but also influence you to acknowledge and appreciate them.

The content of the book completely justifies the name as it provides us with every ‘flavour’ of life, leaving the readers to relish in the delicious aftertaste of it.

The book contains 17 remarkably delightful poems, each unique in their own way.

Each poem promises to leave you thinking harder about many of the factors in our society that we often choose to ignore.

One of the poems ‘My Balcony’ tells the story of a little boy who is eager to get out in the world and have his own taste of freedom. But all he can do is wishfully sigh from his ‘grill caged balcony’ that his father made for him as he wanted to protect him from the real world. As he finally gets out in the real world despite all the hardships and looks back the balcony only to find his son standing at the same place wishfully sighing like he once was.

Another poem, titled ‘I Have Made a Mid-Day Meal’, takes you right back to the excruciating time when India was struggling for her freedom and a wedge was driven between Hindus and Muslims. The poem brings out the essence of love between two friends despite them being from two different religions in an inexplicably bittersweet way that fills you with emotions and nostalgia. But this book does a lot more than just bringing out your emotions and letting you shed a tear or two. It also has poems that talk about the present scenario and environment of the country. It also gives you an insight on the plight of the people in many of the poems as well.

Author, Dr. Debashis Chakraborty, has beautifully put together this collection of poems.

It feels like every word has a deeper meaning to decipher.

You can never predict the nature or the content of the poem just by reading it once.

Each one has a surprise for you that you are sure to overlook at first glance.

And the best part is, you will never get tired of reading the poems over and over again.

So if you enjoy rainy days with coffee and a good poetry book, ‘Flavours of Life’ must be part of your library.

(Reviewed by Nayee Banerjee)