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Life is Sad and Beautiful: Poetic masterpiece perfectly captures emotions of pain, angst and hope

Life is Sad and Beautiful: Poetic masterpiece perfectly captures emotions of pain, angst and hope

THERE have been poetry collections and memoirs published, but none have been quite like the powerful debut book from Hussain Manawer.

The acclaimed poet has combined heartfelt poems from across his life with deeply personal recollections of someone who shaped him as an individual, his late mother, and this has resulted in perhaps the most unique book you will read this year. The free-flowing book opens with a beautiful poem dedicated to his late mother and inspiring words, before it unveils five deeply emotional chapters consisting of powerful poems taken from different stages of the talented writer’s life.


Book Review Life Is Sad and Beautiful 0186 His debut book 'Life is Sad and Beautiful' published by Yellow Kite

Through the beautifully written words you get snapshots of his life from being a young man, to deep loss, depression and finding hope again.

The first chapter, That Boy Just Wants To Be Heard, starts off with a relatable youthful recollection, before being followed by poems like Dream, The Playground and Leaving High School. The following chapters have a similar structure of an introduction followed by poems.

Chapter two, My Problem Is I Care Too Much, ventures into the next phase of the author’s life when he starts to have an awakening with poems like the hard-hitting My Name Is Hussain, I’m Ashamed and Superheroes Needed: Apply Here.

Chapter three, The Night Of 31 August 2017, is the turning point that revolves around the death of his mother and its aftermath with emotional poems that will connect with anyone who has lost someone. Every poem in this chapter is a masterpiece, capturing pain, angst, confusion, and finally acceptance, with If She Was Here being a standout.

Chapter four, Destroying Depression, gives glimmers of light out of darkness and chapter five, The Beauty And The Peace, offers hope with poems like Hey Little Man.

Then the book finishes with an outro offering motivation to those who need it. The poetry collection, memoir and self-help book rolled into one is a beautifully structured masterpiece that will appeal to all ages. It is a deep book filled with emotions and will be a friendly companion you can keep referring back to for years to come.

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Jonathan Mayer on the sitar and beyond

Jonathan Mayer on playing, teaching, and reimagining Indian classical music

Highlights:

  • Started sitar at 16, after growing up surrounded by music at home.
  • Learned both Indian guru–shishya tradition and Western conservatoire methods.
  • Writing ragas in Western notation is tricky because of micro-slides and phrasing.
  • Works with non-South Asian musicians by giving notes and showing the logic of ragas.
  • Every piece, for him, is about balancing Indian and Western musical worlds.

Jonathan Mayer says he started with the sitar at 16, after growing up in a home filled with music. “My father was a composer from Kolkata. My mother was a piano player. My grandfather was a violinist on my mum’s side,” he explains. From an early age, he learned violin and piano, and the sound of the sitar was always around him through his father’s work. But his own path wasn’t automatic. Mayer says the sitar became his voice only when he realised he could build an identity that wasn’t just an extension of his father’s work.

jonathan mayer Jonathan Mayer on the sitar and beyond Instagram/the_sitarist/ @sat_sim

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