Thirty Summer Poems and Conversations about a Murder

By Sabarna Roy

Intense, morbid, stark, realistic, thought-provoking and unputdownable are the words that come to mind when you read Sabarna Roy’s latest book: ‘Thirty Summer Poems and Conversations about a Murder’.
The poems wind around the psychology and thought process that most human beings experience, at some point in their life as they trudge along its path.
A book for the mature reader, it makes for a serious read and may not be enjoyed by someone who is looking for some light-hearted fun read to relax with! However, it does not cater to any specific age group.
The prose is precise, exciting and has all the elements a detective story should have, despite its short length. - Shayoni Mitra, Editor

A technocrat by profession, Roy's keen observation and detailed sketches of the human mind shine through his literature, proving him to be a literary scientist of sorts who follows no conventions when it comes to soulful writing. - Business Standard

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: Mar 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9789356673557

Sabarna Roy

SABARNA ROY is Senior Vice President [Business Development] at Electrosteel Castings Limited, an author of eight Literary and three Technical bestselling books, TEDx Speaker, Champions of Change Award 2020 Winner, Times Excellence Award 2021 Winner in Indian Literature, and Golden Glory Award Winner for Critically Acclaimed Bestselling Author of the Year 2021.Sabarna Roy has been awarded the Right Choice Award for Author of Eminence of 2022. He has been selected among the India Today Group: Icons of India.Roy has also received the Best Author to Watch 2022 Award from Indo-Global Entrepreneurship Conclave Delhi organized by Business Connect, and Best Author in Indian English Literature of 2022 at the Ninth Asia Education Summit 2022.Sabarna Roy has received a letter of confirmation from Confederation of International Accreditation Commission [CIAC] Global Foundation stating that he will be receiving an Honorary Doctor of Arts, Honoris Causa from Azteca University, Mexico.

Book preview

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Thirty Summer Poems

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Trap

A strange feeling…

Am I missing something in my life?

I do not know

It doesn’t feel that I am missing something that was already there in my life

How can I miss something that I did not have in my life already?

A strange feeling

As you grow old, you lose strength and wit

You look for support;

People are moving away from you

In family and work,

Words do not come easily to you

The defeats of your life open up like a new universe.

Sometimes you think of sitting on a mountain top

Sometimes you think of standing by a mountain stream

Sometimes you think of sitting by the side of a mountain lake

Sometimes you think of walking slowly along a moonlit beach

But, you are travelling through a sterilized city in your air-conditioned sedan.

Can motherlessness be the leitmotif of somebody’s life?

When Ma was there you did not care for her

When Ma died you barely cried

In your depression years, you hallucinated about her

What could you be missing in life…

People are moving away from you;

You are losing strength and wit.

You always dreamt of your son during moments of melancholy;

Dreaming, he will bring some happy news.

Some happy news comes,

You forget your life,

Then the defeats gush back with the force of a wild rivulet!

You sit on a stone

Thinking about the options in your life.

Is it possible for you to begin a new life?

Is it possible for you to leave it all?

A tropical wind sweats you up,

You look for an air-conditioned trap.

You know it is a trap, and yet, you will opt for this trap…

Kolkata

June 1, 2022

The Beggar

I looked at the beggar’s face intensely

Riding out in my air-conditioned sedan

In the scorching heat and sunlight.

Sticky hair, calloused dark skin with crimson patches

Possibly festering wounds.

He was looking into my eyes with his yellowish jelly-like eyes

Stoic

Should I fear him?

Could he hurt me?

Could he wrap me around, lift me up in the air and dash me to the ground?

All of a sudden

He came close to my ears and wheezed –

Give me my alms

For nobody knows what happens tomorrow!

Kolkata

June 2, 2022

New Loneliness

You walk on a criss-crossed wet street with upturned tramlines

The adjacent buildings are crumbled as if they have been bombed

The halim, meatball and firni shop at the street corner is badly damaged.

Memories rush past you of your lonely parties at this meatball shop…

You ponder for a moment whether you are the last man alive

The feeling of solitude that you feel is new and queer

You dream of the watercolour drawings of busy hill roads that you drew in your childhood…

You look up at the sky

Twilight gives way to darkness and the distant stars twinkle emitting secret signals.

You can’t understand or decipher them

You see a disfigured cycle lying on the street with mud and slurry on it

You ponder for a moment whether you have been transported to a new planet

You dream of your mother playing with you in a garden full of strawberry flowers

As you walk,