By Tanya Mendonsa Paper Project, 449

Gradually, I leave my old life behind, like clothes I no longer need.) This makes her ( feel the river washing all over me, as if I were a stone, cleansing me of my old life.)

In an interview she says that her friends do not get to visit her much because the way to her house in the Nilgiris is very arduous but is that not a conscious choice by the author? To not make it easy for friends to “bother us”? About family, which will, of course, neither forget you nor let you forget your ties of blood, this is what she says: I have learned from the animals: they live apart, at their own pace. But ultimately, why go in exile? Well, among other things, maybe for the simple pleasure of not having to do anything. As it is, women bear the weight of both home and outside on their bodies and souls. As Roy writes, “Women, unlike men, are called at their workplace for example, over the missing sock of a child. And women have pointed out that to expect them to multitask all the time is exploitative,” As Mendonsa tells us the reason behind her move to the Nilgiris: Fishing for the courage to continue not doing anything/ far from the shark's teeth of the world. Other than the sublime beauty of the poetry — the metaphors are both stunning and sophisticated — one must commend the strikingly attractive quality of the cover art and the illustrations. The design completes the book.

Abhimanyu Kumar is a journalist based in Delhi. His first book of poems, Milan and the Sea, was released last year.