What Goes into a Butterfly? | Sunil Rajagopal | Book Review

What Goes into a Butterfly? by Sunil Rajagopal is a refreshing collection of some lovely poems that span a variety of unique themes. This was a book that had no cliche love, romance, or anything related to it. However, it does portrays the love the author has for nature. The poems clearly reflect the bond the author shares with his acute observation.

Divided into 8 parts, the book introduces us to the beautiful element of nature around us. It takes you down the quiet roads, makes you feel every little drop, refreshes the delight of long walks, makes us trace the birds in the sky with our nimble fingers, brings to us what is lost to the ruins of time, and jolts us to see the mundane things of everyday life. Then, it strikes us with a realization of our follies thereby leading us to the window within. Intriguing, isn’t it?

I took longer than usual to finish reading this one. Why? Because the different themes it dealt with, took me by surprise. I was pleasantly surprised at the subtle expression of meandering through nature — nature that we humans invaded and continue to degrade. Each poem depicted how deeply the writer has felt his surroundings and how intertwined he has been with flora and fauna around him. The language complimented his thoughts pretty well. The thoughts were raw, the presentation of the same incomplete, asking readers to build interpretations and have their own takeaways.

There were times I simply stopped to reread the lines and absorb their intent. I read this one sitting on my terrace under the vast blue sky, closing my eyes intermittently, closing the book at times just to have a view around. I especially loved the last two sections that opened my eyes to the mankind wreaking havoc on nature and how we have forgotten to connect with ourselves.

I would recommend this one to the beginners to moderate level readers.