Adversity brings the best poet in you

Review of Mute: A collection of over 100 Poems

Venkat Raman

Samuel Johnson, one of the greatest men of letters that Britain has ever produced, came out with his best at the worst of times.

Yet, apart from poems, essays and critical analyses, the most significant and eternally useful contribution of Johnson to literature was the English Dictionary.

Those were among the thoughts that I entertained as I opened ‘Mute: Poems that saved my life!’ which had arrived by courier from Indianapolis (USA) earlier in the day.

The Reader may wonder as to what can be so exciting about a book of poems. At best, they kindle our saddest thoughts and worst make you wonder what it is all about.

Something different

But ‘Mute’ is a different collection of poems. They bring you close to the emotive experiences of its author Vidya Gargote and make you realise that most of us go through spiritual development in our lives, although it could be muted (pun not intended) or become predominantly vociferous. It is also true that most of us experience depression at some point in our lives, except that for some, it becomes a serious suffering.

Gargote was among those who were afflicted by depression and knowing it.

Irony personified

In that sense, the book is curiously ironic; it narrates on the one hand her ‘grand spiritual journey’ and on the other, to quote her own words, “an exposure of her vulnerability.”

The first 53 poems (or so) were written when Gargote was not even aware that she was in a state of depression.

“I realised the difficulties in my normal life with low moods and used all available coping methods to deal with these moods such as exercising, creative writing and spiritual approaches such as reaching out to God,” she says in her Preface.

‘Believe’ is among the poems that she wrote in her formative years as a bard.

The following extract brings out her outlook in life:

We need one mind so strong.

So brave, so persistent, so aggressive

To believe that we are free,

To free the entire creation.

The causes

Financial trouble, dysfunctional family background, social stigma and incompatible relationship are often factors that lead to depression but in the case of Gargote, it was a different set of circumstances that spelt her low moods.

It was perhaps the inability to secure that delicate balance in life that led her into a depressing state. She had a successful career but coping with long hours of work and parenting her newborn child took their toll.

She used creative writing and journal therapy as a tool to return to her true self, reaching her goal of happiness and emerging with the vision of helping others through her story.

“Although this Book came out of a low time, it is not a book about depression. I want my journey to be a guide to anyone who wants to better their life. Use my staircase of meditations to elevate your happiness, and then add your own stairs to the summit,” she said.

Gargote’s verses of exultation combats the notion that we cannot alter our own state of being, but demonstrates practical steps to elevate one’s mood and combat depression and seasonal affective disorder with simple, small actions.

Her state of mind surfaces at several places in the Book; one such occurs in ‘Don’t know what to write today.’  Here is a stanza:

Please give me the beauty of the angel

The heart of a mother

The strength of a brother

And the joy of a baby

Born in New Delhi, she now lives in San Jose, California with her family. She has a postgraduate (Masters) degree in Electrical Engineering and works for a Fortune 500 companies. She is a creative writer, believes in cathartic power of mindful poetry, and is on a continuous quest to find her real purpose in life.

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