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Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
Soul Musings by A.J. Manoj , a collection of poems in free verse, is a self-exploration into the innermost recesses of his mind to overcome the fragmented sense of being. The poet’s emotional spurts reflect his predicament juxtaposed with the realities of life and the subsequent flights of fancy. The poem captures the different emotions experienced by the poet and his views on universal topics like beauty, desire, patience, nature, relationship, love and prayer. The poet has employed a simple and lucid style to articulate profound truths. The lines of these poems will touch a chord with all those who face strife in life. One of the reasons why it is worthy of appreciation is the poet’s positive outlook towards life and acknowledgement of the strength that he gains from the presence of the Lord. He refrains from lamenting about his worries and focuses on the diehard belief of seeing the goodness in the intrinsic and incomprehensible plans of the higher soul. 'Soul Musings’ beautifully encapsulates the poet’s journey into the self, struggle with harsh realities, seeking and eventually accepting the all-pervading presence of the Lord and emerging with renewed vigor to face life. It is a patchwork quilt of strong emotions and faithfully records the ups and downs in the poet’s life and reinforces the need to do soul search to accomplish anything in life.
“The greatest truth lies in knowing
one's inner self.
Complete healing takes over !
Only with the help of the Divine !”
A J Manoj
I, A J Manoj am a bachelor in my late 30's, who as usual goes through the ups and downs in life. I have learnt that trying new things can be scary, but sometimes when we try we find that it makes us contented too. And this book will make others understand that mistakes are okay and it is a part of learning. I was born in1982 and was raised in a Malayali Christian middle class family. Completed my high school from Holy Cross Matriculation Higher Secondary School ,Salem and passed out during the year 2000.During my high school days my English teacher Mr. Geoffrey Davidson, influenced me to develop a love for the language. Thereafter I completed my under graduation in BSc. Biotechnology from G.R.Damodharan College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore in 2003.I further pursued my Masters in M.B.A. with specialization in human resources from Sona College of Technology,Salem from 2003 to 2005.
Apart from studies, reading helped me to widen my knowledge and my vocabulary especially. My flair for language helped me to secure a job, in Allsec Technologies, Chennai where I worked for a brief period of six months, immediately after the completion of my M.B.A. From 2006 onwards due to the need to help my father in business, I came down to Salem and helped my dad till 2018.I also pursued a course in (DTP) desk top publishing for four months.
I started writing from the year 2016.At first I thought that it will be only one poem. Later on I realized that emotional spurts occurred to me now and then. When I decided to write them down, they are given life. Sometimes I wrote upto four or five poems on a single day or night. Sometimes I wrote only one poem for months together. The spurts did not stop, they kept coming. Initially I hadn't thought of publishing my poems. Yet my parents as a mark of appreciation for my literary aspirations, published my poems under the title "Soul Musings" in 2018,only for private circulation among friends and relatives and not for sale in any book store or website.
This is my first attempt to self publish my work for sale with the help of your esteemed publishing company. The search within myself might have brought out the poetry in me. When the search for God intensified in me, magical things started happening. I ended up doing as many things as possible to bring out the creativity in me. The search never ends...it goes on and on and on, as long as I live. Waiting for God to undo me and make me up as God intended.
