Skip to main content

Did You Ever Love Me? Book Review: Can Rithvik singh turn heartbreak into a homecoming?

Did You Ever Love Me? by Rithvik Singh is a tender contemporary poetry collection about love, heartbreak, longing, self worth and learning to let go. Its greatest strength is emotional accessibility: Singh writes directly to readers who feel intensely and care deeply. The collection offers comfort without pretending heartbreak is simple, though its simplicity may occasionally feel familiar to seasoned poetry readers. Did you Ever Love Me? Have you ever loved someone so completely that, after they left, you were left wondering whether they had ever understood what they had been given? Not merely whether they loved you, but whether they ever noticed how much you loved them, how much patience you offered, how many small things you remembered, or how often you chose to stay when leaving might have been easier. There is a particular loneliness in that question because it rarely arrives at a dramatic moment. More often, it finds you while you are doing something completely ordinary. Yo...

Driving yourself away

What's the deal with driving? As in, why people riding wheels? I was wondering about it today, on a long drive in this stuffy humid weather. I saw around me, so many people enjoying driving. The guy on his yamaha who zipped past me as if he was racing an airplane,  that woman driving the honda city with one hand on the car horn and other on her mobile and so many others. We all know of someone who is crazy about driving cars, bikes and even planes. They just want to ride the thing.
What do we get out of it? Are we looking for a release? Are we trying to find some meaning in the maddening traffic? Or are roaming aimless like our ancestors used to do on chariots and horses sets some order in our random life?

Look around you, how many people close to you would say no to a long drive if time permits? Even if some people don't enjoy driving much, they love being the part of the process, riding pillion to a scooter or a passenger on a train. At times I feel its about a feeling of control, you have the the aeroplane in your hands, the reigns of the horse are in your hands, you can take it left and you can steer it to right, control gives you the thrill. But how can be that true for the passive drivers, who are just out there for fun and contribute just a little to navigation?

It could be yearning for the destination, a pursuit of meaning that bugs us all through our lifetime.  I look around me the rickshaw drivers, the taxi drivers, the guy driving his Audi with a collar in neck, perhaps its that the roads with their vastness of distances, beckon us to run away, run along, run close. Or it could be just sheer boredom and lack of other hobbies.

Comments

Also read

Inspector Sharma-India salutes you

Its a sad day for the nation as it bids the final farewell to Delhi police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma. He died on Friday in an encounter with the terrorists who were involved in the Delhi bomb blasts. The nation could've rejoiced today with the successful operation of killing 2 terrorists and nabbing one, if not for the painful loss of this brave soul. He was the first one to enter the building where the terrorists were said to be hiding. Just think of the courage displayed by this man in the hour of need. As he knocked on the door, he heard some commotion going on inside. So he went inside through another door and was shot at. His team members swung into action after this and it was all over in the blink of an eye. Though he was taken to the hospital, Sharma succumbed to his injuries soon. He was a tough cop who has taken part in many successful encounters and brought laurels to the Delhi police force, but sadly this one proved his last. The terrorists who were killed were not m...

Did You Ever Love Me? Book Review: Can Rithvik singh turn heartbreak into a homecoming?

Did You Ever Love Me? by Rithvik Singh is a tender contemporary poetry collection about love, heartbreak, longing, self worth and learning to let go. Its greatest strength is emotional accessibility: Singh writes directly to readers who feel intensely and care deeply. The collection offers comfort without pretending heartbreak is simple, though its simplicity may occasionally feel familiar to seasoned poetry readers. Did you Ever Love Me? Have you ever loved someone so completely that, after they left, you were left wondering whether they had ever understood what they had been given? Not merely whether they loved you, but whether they ever noticed how much you loved them, how much patience you offered, how many small things you remembered, or how often you chose to stay when leaving might have been easier. There is a particular loneliness in that question because it rarely arrives at a dramatic moment. More often, it finds you while you are doing something completely ordinary. Yo...

Satyameva Jayate - Free speech

More than 40 people have died in the riots that have followed the killing of Swami Lakshmanananda in Kandhamal in Orissa. 5 people were killed and 47 injured in Mumbai when Jerry Falwell made some comments saying that the Prophet of Islam was a violent man and a terrorist. 12 people had died in Mumbai in anti-rushdie riots. There are more instances I can point out, but these stand out because of the scale and because of how related India is to last two people. Mr. Falwell runs a Christian ministry in US and Salman Rushdie, although ethically an Indian, had migrated to Pakistan and was a citizen of UK at that time. Of all riots that took place all over the world following the statement by Jerry Falwell and against Salman Rushdie, India was the only place with causalities. Orissa has been a hotbed of communal tensions between Hindus and Christians for a while now. India is the largest democracy which is more than 60 years old. Why then are we so undemocratic in our conduct? I will not sa...