atima Mehru’s debut book of poetry, Darya aur Dreechay (The river and the windows), has attracted a lot of attention. The book has been received well both by general Urdu poetry readers and critics like Saleem-ur Rehman. It consists of 60 poems. Laden with layered meanings, the poems weave together an elegant vocabulary, refreshing metaphors and symbols.

Some of the poems are about issues like gender discrimination, lack of communication and understanding and a sense of isolation. Others represent the desire of/ for a strong and independent woman. There are also poems where one is acutely aware of visible and invisible walls and ceilings. This is where the poet dreams of dareechay (windows) and doors in the walls to access to the world beyond the confines. Trapped and lost behind closed windows and doors, a deep sorrow settles around the protagonist. She longs for someone, something, anything, for her to be seen and discovered/ rescued. Daryaft (Discovery) is one such poem. It says:

The book also mentions another woman who has (or seeks) control over her suitors, one who uses the nozzle of a revolver to apply lipstick. This is the other side of the woman behind the doors and windows. Such poems, in themselves, are the windows and the fountainhead of a river. The images seem to be a dream space where she lives the life she aspired. The poem, Subh-i-Khobsorat (Beautiful Morning), reads:

In another such poem, Woh Larki Jo Chand kay Neechay Soti Hai (The girl who sleeps under the moon), the essence/ existence of the moon seems to depend on a girl who sleeps below. It is as if it (the moon) doesn’t possess light of its own. The poem’s overall impact leaves the reader awe-struck. Ironically, the girl with such energy arouses suspicion. Questions are raised about her character, chastity and fidelity.

Mehru’s poems are about more than a woman sorting her life out in patriarchal structures; she also looks around and writes about other factors and actors behind human suffering.

There is also a range of poems with a variety of other themes. Consider the poem titled, Ball. Everyone seems to have some relationship with the ball, despite the differences in their age or gender. From a child to an old man, everyone sees and deals with it in a definite way. The poem shows Mehru’s ability to use symbolism and metaphors in a meaningful, if playful manner.

In Batain (Talking), she discusses a basic need: talking to someone. Not being able to talk to someone, we end up being unable to talk to the people around us and, at times to ourselves. Khamoshi kay pather (Stones that a silence creates), written in the same vein, speaks of how words fail to create a meaningful conversation/ connection if they are not used with care. Such carelessness with the usage ends up creating messed-up sentences leading to the stones of silence, which could mean: no conversation. Sentences that cause a silence and sentences that impede conversation or cause misunderstandings should be discarded, and meaningful or purposeful words and sentences should be spoken in order to fill in the vacuum the silence and the messed-up sentences create.

Mehru’s poems are more than about a woman sorting her life out amid patriarchal structures. She also looks around and writes about other factors and actors behind human suffering. Baraye Farokht (For sale) sheds light on the obvious: how the presence of the capital has turned everything into a commodity “for sale.”

In Khuda Barish Naheen Barsai Ga (God will send no rain), she turns to God, who appears not to listen to anyone – neither a toiling labourer nor a poor peasant woman. Seeing such indifference, one wonders if God treats the oppressed and the oppressor differently.

A couplet by Irfan Malik serves as the book’s prologue. It says that she (the poet) has done her part of writing the book, and that the rest is up to the reader.

Darya aur Dreechay

Author: Fatima Mehru

Publisher: Collage Publishers, 2021

Price: Rs 295

The reviewer is a student of literature at the Department of English, Government College University (GCU), Lahore