“Trouvailles: My moments of Yūgen” – my new Poetry book.

“Trouvailles: My moments of Yūgen”
by Shuvashree Chowdhury

‘To Chance Encounters and Mysteries of the Universe’

Trouvaille (origin French) means a chance encounter with something wonderful, a windfall, a lucky find. Whether its stumbling across a hidden back street, discovering a quaint cafe, or connecting with a local during a journey — the joy they bring is what you call trouvaille.
Yūgen (origin Japanese) is a profound and mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe and the sad beauty of human suffering — an awareness that triggers emotional responses too deep and powerful for words.

Trouvailles: My moments of Yūgen is Shuvashree Chowdhury’s second collection of poems. They are crafted from the physical and mental journeys she undertook to find herself. One moment she is navigating the ghats and galis of the holy city of Banaras; in another she is gazing at the mighty Kanchenjunga from Darjeeling and Kalimpong; one moment she is experiencing the calm of Rabindranath Tagore’s Santiniketan; in another she is walking along the Hooghly in pastoral Bengal. Then there is travel — in the form of contemplation — undertaken during the Covid-forced lockdown.

The poems are not so much about the destinations, but a fresh way of looking at places we already knew about. They are an optimistic and positive reflection on life and death; love and relationships; resilience and rejection.

SHUVASHREE CHOWDHURY is the author of four works of literary fiction including novels Across Borders and Entwined Lives; a collection of short stories Existences; and a book of poems called Fragments. She spent over two decades in the corporate sector, in senior managerial capacities with top companies before turning a full-time writer. She lives in Kolkata.

Author’s Note

One sultry evening during the lockdown, imposed on mankind by COVID-19, when one travelled mentally rather than physically, I chanced upon two words. I not only liked the sounds of them, but they also seemed to accurately describe the nature of my travels in the recent times — physical as well as in the form of contemplation — that resulted in the lines you will read in the following pages.

Yūgen (origin Japanese) is a profound and mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe and the sad beauty of human suffering — an awareness that triggers emotional responses too deep and powerful for words.

So there, that explains the title of this book.

I like to think of myself as an explorer of life, a seeker, and a creator of flow. I believe that it is only through flow that you find a connection to your genuine self and that you then begin to live fully. Thus, I have been on a poetic journey to self-awareness and inner healing, an ongoing journey to find and connect with my true purpose and authentic self.

After years of working in demanding corporate jobs, juggling work, family and relationships, I often found myself questioning why I was doing what I was doing, wondering if there wasn’t more to all of this, and if I was missing some bigger purpose. Unsettled by watching those around me live without flow, struggling to find their balance, happiness, and health, my journey as a literary fiction writer began in 2010.

Travel has been a big component of my explorations on the meaning of life — often converting to poetic expressions —in my sense of relating to my inner and outer world. Curiosity on one’s self is the gateway of understanding our own sufferings and blockages that hinder us from living our truth. Inner exploration can be a deep and life-changing experience.

Through these poems, I invite readers to journey with me, to find inner connections, harmony, and flow. My goal is in creating a safe cruise for one to explore and discover one’s inner peace, courage, strength, and ultimate potential. I hope to inspire and motivate people to live in a place of self-love and acceptance, thus inculcate the inner strength to never give up. In doing so, we can begin to find our inner peace while cultivating compassion in our outer interactions.

“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.” — Henry Miller

“Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” — Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet.

A brief on my first book of poems written since 2007, that started my inward journey, is below…

Fragments is Shuvashree Chowdhury’s debut collection of poetry. It is an intuitive journey into various aspects of the human experience — love, passion, jealousy, joy, spirituality, and death. The poems engage deeply with the world — turning each heartfelt moment in the hands like fragments of a broken mirror — to examine with keen intelligence, the light passing through the countless shards, towards self-realization. The poems convey insights with a perceptiveness that is at once brilliant and sumptuously lyrical, vivid, and kaleidoscopic, in a language that is elegant. The poetic journey gradually transcends into a serene, spiritually uplifting zenith — weaving its way upstream through the rocky riverbed of the spirit — the soul quivering, often crushing emotional currents.

Fifteen poems from Fragments, in a staged reading, were recited by veteran theatre artists of the reputed group — Madras Players — the oldest English language theatre group in India, in 2015 for their 60th year celebrations. The poet also read poems along with the actors. Alongside eminent international poets, she has read from her collection at important literary festivals, including ‘Poetry with Prakriti’ (Chennai) in 2016 at Stella Maris College, Madras Christian College, and several others. Two of the poems from this collection are also published in the Sahitya Academy anthology – ‘Modern English Poetry by Younger Indians’– selected and edited by Sudeep Sen. Recital of a poem from this collection, also won her the ‘Pride of India: Online Talent Hunt 2020: Winner, Poetry Competition’

A brief on my previous four books: Two Novels, A book of Poetry and Short fiction each are in the link below …
https://shuvashreechowdhury.com/2020/01/06/where-my-books-go-william-butler-yeats/

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Banaras & Spiritualty, not Religion: I found these writings below in the photos here, inscribed at a popular shrine, Lahiri Mahasaya’s Ashram – mostly visited and then frequented by westerners – in a narrow lane of Banaras which is a city that attracts all forms and varieties of art and creativity.
These writings, will also give you an insight into the inspiration and working of my mind in writing this book which will soon be available globally in print and a variety of digital formats.
The details of my inspirations for the book “Trouvailles: my Moments of Yugen” are in the link below:

https://shuvashreechowdhury.com/2020/11/12/inspirations-my-travel-poetry-book-trouvailles-my-moments-of-yugen/