Book Review: 'Voice of the Soul' by Shreyans Kanswa

Shreyans Kanswa runs a construction business, he is a dreamer who delves into the world of nature and philosophy. One can truly get a sense of it when one reads this book ‘Voice of the Soul.’ Shreyans Kanswa has to be commended for the fact that throughout his 61 poems in this book he doesn’t miss on expressing the voices of the soul. The voices for the poet are surrounding the person here on earth; some narrating their sweet story and some an ugly one.

The poet doesn’t deter from speaking the dark areas of life. Shreyans deals with themes like fear, illusion, illusory life, transience of life, low self image, attaining bliss and a lot more. In the first half the poems are interesting and strike a chord in you, but the second half gets a little boring although it does have some interesting pieces.

His poems like, ‘Times Changes People,’ ‘Free Will,’ ‘A Dry Leaf,’ ‘Finding the Blue,’ ‘5 Years Old,’ ‘The Dilemma of Life,’ ‘Ashes,’ ‘Unbound Spirit,’ and ‘Grains’ were consistent, logical, relevant and truly amazing in its poetic style. The poem like ‘The Blue Bird’ is thought provoking but digressive, the poet could have dealt more into the functioning of the bird when the title suggests it, but in the poem just three lines are dedicated to the bird, from which to derive such a big lesson is impossible.

The poets thoughts on freedom in this collection is what I take for my life apart from many other things that kept me glued to the book. He says, “But to find peace in life’s rifts is freedom.” This thought comes after a solid reflection on life’s vulnerabilities and the fact that freedom is can be achieved even when bonded.

If you love philosophy and poetry this book is for you. Shreyans Kanswa has married these two subjects focusing perfectly on the voices of the soul.