ARC Review: The Profane: The Poems by Saranjit Sarna

‘The Profane is a note from the underground, a message being sent from an island on fire, an email shot off at three in the morning. This is to say that Sarna’s book is one of vulnerability, loneliness, joy, humour, hope and grief. It’s a human book which tells us it’s okay to be human.’ – Matthew Dickman ‘Sarna has something rich and meaningful to communicate, and the lyric sensibility, love of language, beat and rhyme, and inventive zest to bring alive on the page all the vividness and pleasure and plangency of life. This is a book to savour and treasure for all the years it will stand on your shelf.’ – Chandrahas Choudhury A witches’ brew of art, politics, religion and mythology, The Profane is rich with music and images. Here are poems of heartbreak and disillusion, of loneliness and mortality, but also of passion for life on earth, in all its mud and glory. In the pages of this collection, Kurt Cobain, Napoleon and Amir Khusro meet, and Homeric tough guys get what they deserve. Satyajit Sarna’s vision embraces our broken world and salutes the one chance we get to experience it.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a Physical copy of the book by Harper Collins India in exchange for an honest review. However, all the thoughts, feelings and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Poetry has a very special place in my heart and poets held in high esteem – which is why I do my best to be objective while reviewing poetry books; yet I will not ask any of the readers to treat my rating as an absolute.

In PROFANE, the poet Sarna talks about a myriad of emotions – loss, love, hope, happiness and loneliness – all of which the author has done a brilliant job of expressing them in ways that would touch the heart of any soul.

This is a collection of poetry that will have something for everyone & the author shows an immense talent when penning down thoughts that might seem to be only yours but is also everyone else’s – something that makes sure that you won’t feel alone in the vast world.

“In love, as in all things,

we choose with our feet,

not with our hearts, not with our claims,

not with the stars calling out our names.

If you picked up your bag

and walked through the door,

you meant to, you know it.

There is nothing to apologize for.”

So go forth, and find yourself in between the pages of this collection of poetry.