The quiet power of longing

In an age where speed often replaces reflection, Rajeev Kejriwal’s ‘Chahat’ offers something increasingly rare. It invites the reader to pause and return to the inner life of feeling. This slender collection of poems does not seek to overwhelm with complexity. Instead, it builds its strength through sincerity, simplicity, and a deep engagement with human emotion.

At its heart, ‘Chahat’ is an exploration of one of the most enduring forces in human life. It reflects the desire to feel, to belong, to seek, and to become. The title itself carries a quiet richness. Here, longing is not limited to romantic expression. It expands into a broader yearning for connection, understanding, companionship, memory, and life itself. This widening of emotional scope gives the collection both depth and relatability.

The poems emerge from small yet meaningful moments that shape our emotional world. Some are reflective, turning inward to observe the subtle stirrings of the heart. Others capture the warmth, playfulness, and gentle ache of relationships. Particularly engaging are the lighter poems that portray couples navigating brief periods of separation. In these pieces, absence sharpens affection, and ordinary exchanges take on an unexpected tenderness. These moments feel familiar, almost lived, which allows the reader to connect without effort.

One of the notable strengths of ‘Chahat’ is its refusal to distance itself from emotion. The poems do not hide behind abstraction or intellectual complexity. The language remains accessible and unadorned, yet it carries a quiet resonance. Rather than presenting grand declarations, Kejriwal focuses on everyday feelings. In doing so, he restores dignity to the ordinary emotional experiences that often go unnoticed.

From a literary perspective, the collection aligns with a tradition that values inward reflection over outward drama. There are traces of the introspective quality found in writers like Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan ‘Agyeya’, along with a certain emotional stillness reminiscent of Nirmal Verma’s prose. At the same time, Kejriwal’s voice remains direct and approachable. He does not aim for philosophical distance. Instead, he stays close to lived experience.

There are moments where the emotional tone remains consistent across poems, and a greater variation in imagery or structure might have added contrast. However, this consistency also contributes to the book’s immersive quality. It allows the reader to remain within a single emotional landscape, rather than moving rapidly between different moods.

What ultimately stays with the reader is the honesty of the work. ‘Chahat’ does not try to explain emotions or resolve them. It simply creates space for them to be felt. In doing so, it reminds us that emotions are not distractions from life, but essential to it. They shape how we see, how we relate, and how we live. For a relatively new poet, Rajeev Kejriwal shows a commendable sensitivity to the nuances of feeling. This is not a loud or ambitious book in the conventional sense, but it possesses a quiet confidence. It speaks gently, yet it leaves a lasting impression.

In the end, ‘Chahat’ is more than a collection of poems. It is a meditation on longing in its many forms. It encourages the reader to slow down, to feel deeply, and to rediscover the emotional currents that quietly define human experience. Hence, a must-read.

(The writer is an internationally acclaimed literary critic and the founder of Authors Paradise Literary Group.)