MILK AND HONEY Paperback – Notebook, 23 December 2015

‘the very thought of youhas my legs spread apartlike an easel with a canvasbegging for art’When a female friend of mine shared this poem with me, I winced. Receiving stuff of sensual nature is by itself something that I am not quite comfortable with, but here is this poem, sent to me by a female friend. What both aggravated and doused my uncomfortable feeling was my getting to know that the author of this poem was a woman herself. Reading through the lines again I understood that her words exude not just eroticism but a sense of deep esotericism as well. Her words emanate from the longing, a deep pain, searing loneliness and flowing love – all things that I myself can relate with and connect soulfully too.Immediately I ordered for the book online. From the moment I received the book in my hand and opened it, to the moment I closed it this morning, it was one hell of a ride through the dark corners of my heart. Dealing with lust, longing, love, pain of betrayal, self-love, letting go, hurt, healing, feminism and acceptance, this is a book that every introvert, every aching heart and every one that still believes in that quaint concept called ‘love’ must read.Her words are the magical runes that any heart capable of love would respond to. They touch the raw nerves of our inner-selves, bringing to light all those unhealed wounds of the heart that we have learnt to live with, stir up all those dark passions that we keep buried deep beneath the hypocritical facades of politeness and public perceptions about ourselves. With her, you don’t get to feel the servile yearnings of a Kamala Das or the aggression of a Taslima Nasrin shelling out satires about the grapes gone sour. Here is a woman who feels love and writes about it, as deeply and as passionately as a Pablo Neruda or as a Kahlil Gibran also can. She loves, she yearns, she crumbles, she weeps about the loss, but she also picks up her pieces and puts them back together, but this time only more firmly.Here is a real feminist that doesn’t talk about her body and her desires with a feigned sense of supremacy or acrimonious misandry. There is no vulgarity when she writes about her lust. You feel no revulsion when she talks about the inner functions of female body. She doesn’t preach promiscuity in the name of freedom. She takes pride in what she is. She doesn’t accede to the preset conventions of feminine beauty. She doesn’t pay obeisance to patriarchy. Here is a poetess we can all fall in love with, not just for her words, but for all that she is – her fears, her pains, her strengths, her weaknesses, her courage, for her being the person that she is. Each poem here is a colorful thread, seeing which you will be able to perceive a beautiful tapestry - that is her adorable personality!This is a book that will leave you craving for more – like a perfect session of passionate love-making!

What I like about this book is the way Rupi kaur can breathe life into her poems …all her hurting, loving, breaking and the healing of her heart and soul are channeled into this 1st book, as she says in blurb "it literally is blood sweat and tears of her 21 years" and it resonates with every age group as everyone can relate to pain, loss, grief which are universal emotions.“loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself”-RupiThis is the kind of a book that you can open at any page and read …it can become your goto book every time you are down and you need to feel positive and be uplifted …that’s the beauty of this book…it can embalm your wounds and you come away with more strength to face life and you become more resilient…that’s the purpose of any art…and poetry fills a part of your soul that cant be filled with any other art form. Like Picasso said “The purpose of any art is washing the dust of your daily life off our souls” and reading Rupi’s poetry @ the end of a long day ..Unwinds you peacefully and soulfully and even though its sometimes a bit dark and hurting you can come away smiling having read her book.“if you were born withweakness to fallyou were born withthe strength to rise” - Rupi KaurThere were many parts in the book that will resonate with people across the world, such as, being in a toxic love, and waiting for the right love and you come away feeling how self love is the foundation of all your relationships.This book is filled with her poems along with her illustrations, which add more impact to her poetry. Rupi has good artistic sense because it is reflected even in the layout of the book. Its a beautiful book filled with breath taking honest poetry…if poetry can be written in simple language yet convey a lot then I’m all for poetry. Rupi kaur’s work is the only poetry collection I have and she has just paved a way for poetry to come into mainstream media. The fact that this book was on NYT best seller’s list proves that people were starving for a work like this to come their way. Sample of her poetry …..“it is a part of thehuman experience to feel paindo not be afraidopen yourself to it “Amazon’s delivery is awesome…I got the book the next day itself….benefits of Prime membership…you guys are God send for avid book readers like me….keep up the good work….