‘In Memoriam’: The Poet’s Guide to Grief and a Must-Read for All Those Who’ve Loved and Lost
Krupaharini M
Loss, suffering, and death tallies entered the everyday vocabulary of COVID news and dinner table conversations. In this desensitized world, Mafazah Sharafuddin’s ‘In Memoriam’, with a poem by the same name as its headliner, comes as an enclave that wombs each of us to share the burden of these dark times. The poet is an enthusiastic final-year student of Journalism, Psychology, and English.
With a staggering span of forty poems, this anthology published by The Alcove Publishers has a genealogy that sets it apart from the plethora of books being published every minute. What makes this anthology one-of-its-kind is that Mafazah’s experimental artwork, and not just poetry, is scattered across its pages. This artwork has traveled a long way to the pages of the anthology, from the ink of her pen onto the cursor of her computer.
Candied words and ornamental language would not grasp the authenticity of emotions explored by this poet. The poetry and art in this anthology is grotesque, in-your-face, shocking, and helplessly black-and-white, just as the pandemic has been. Her works have the air of critically acclaimed composition, making ‘In Memoriam’ an archive of groundbreaking originality.
This visual entry into her world-building is a sought-after experience after the success of her first anthology, ‘Labyrinth of Emotions’, which she got published at the age of sixteen.
The poet shed any illusions of normalcy at the threshold to compile this book. To explore the erratic waves of emotions and paper cuts of the pandemic, the poet and artiste embrace the abnormal and break patterns of language and art. After all, would rule-obeying, syntactical art or poetry do justice to the perils of the pandemic generation? So, as the poet eloquently puts it, “The world falls apart, and all I can do is tell its story”. This anthology, then, is as much our stories, as it is hers.
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Kapil Sibal re-elected as President of Supreme Court Bar Association 23 years after his last term
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal has secured victory in the election for the post of President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). Sibal emerged triumphant with 1066 votes, defeating his closest competitor, Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai, who garnered 689 votes. The incumbent President, Senior Advocate Dr. Adish C Aggarwala, received 296 votes, according to tentative figures.
Among the other contenders were Priya Hingorani, Tripurari Ray, and Neeraj Srivastava.
This marks the fourth time that Kapil Sibal will serve as the President of the SCBA. He previously held the position three times, with his last tenure dating back twenty-three years ago in 2001. Before that, he served as President during the terms of 1995-96 and 1997-98.
