Published by Leadstart, Sonnets to Paradise by Nidra Naik is a story of two contrasting women bound by poems but separated by all worldly parameters like age, religion, cast, blood, and so on. The overall premises of the novel is gripped by the heartfelt poems on a gamut of topics but mostly focused on love. Nidra’s style of narration is highly lyrical and slightly philosophical.
The story opens up in one town, Rickmansworth, of the United Kingdom. At the forefront of the story is Nayantara, in late thirties, her life is quite monotonous, office and home and vice versa. One cold night she stumbles upon a mysterious man. Before she could get more about him, he is disappeared. However, that man leaves her reeling with old memories of Goa and Puri.
It’s a fascinating to read her love affair in the college time, where one guy named Jojo rankles her with his dimwit methods. But that part of the book is quite musical and lyrical, she puts poems so often on love and infatuation that one will sigh in appreciation for her. The below short poem sums up her views on love, and it also shows the coveted brilliance of the author:
Love has its limitations set
Sometimes to Exclusivity
And at times to Adherence…
The stroke of your body can I mutter
Has fallen for his bodily pleasure
Fusion of lust, longing & a lot of manly splatter
Beware, my lover, there are convulsions
I the lanes that you seek for so-called Godly redemption
Nayantara’s character is intriguing yet highly likeable, she is pragmatic and into herself like a strong woman of today’s time. She knows what’s bogging her down and what can make her rise up. Readers may take time to get fully acquainted with all characters. Initially, we see only Nayan and her caretaker Mrs Patrick. The novel gets a perfect momentum when the second woman is introduced. She is Nicola, way opposite to Nayantara. Despite differences, they gel up and find meaning to their lives through the poems. It is a wonderful novel, with women’s voice at its centre. Writing is at par with excellence, the story moves at a great speed.
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About the Author:
Nidra Naik is an Indian novelist and a poet. She is the author of ‘The Bhubaneswar Times’ and ‘A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories’, both of which are works of fiction. Her musings for writing poems have been immense, so much that few of her poems have been published in anthologies of ‘Out of the Woods’ and ‘Moonlight’.
She comes from a family of writers, musicians, and actors, however, with a humble upbringing and an intense value system. She has spent most of her childhood in her hometown, Cuttack, which is a quaint little town in the coastal belt of Odisha.
After she graduated from the renowned Ravenshaw University, with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (management honours distinction), she decided to see the world around and headed to New Delhi for an MBA in marketing at the esteemed management college of IILM. Ironically, none in her family or immediate family had pursued business studies! It was in New Delhi that she got a streak of thought of becoming a writer and was eventually getting aware of her interests and likes.
Returning to Bhubaneswar, while having taken a job, she penned her first novel. And her most inspirational muse for the book had been none other than her then beau, now husband, who she got married to later.
These days, she writes quotes by the hashtag of #ThinkingNidra, which can be extensively found on her Instagram handle. Nidra is also getting trained in Hindustani classical music as she has a passion for music too.
She’s also appeared in many interviews on bloggers’ website, publishers’ author corners, Bhubaneswar-Radio, Odia-TV channel, English, Odia & Bengali newspapers regarding her work.
She currently works & lives in Hyderabad with her husband and two pet dogs. Being an ardent lover of animals & nature, she spends her free hours reducing carbon/water prints, petting animals, endorsing cruelty-free products, supporting animal organizations, old age organizations, and encouraging her friends and relatives to do so.