Patna: There is an old belief that journalism and poetry inhabit opposite worlds. One is driven by deadlines, facts and public accountability; the other by reflection, memory and emotional truth. Yet, every so often, a writer emerges who demonstrates that the distance between the newsroom and the page of verse is not as great as it seems.
With Hamnasheen, journalist Anand Kaushal makes a persuasive case that the two worlds can coexist.
Known for decades as a familiar face in Bihar’s television journalism, Kaushal has spent much of his professional life chronicling politics, governance and public life. From his early years at ETV Bihar to leadership roles in regional and national news organisations, he has built a reputation as a committed journalist. But Hamnasheen suggests that beneath the measured voice of the reporter has always existed another voice—one more intimate, reflective and deeply personal.
Rather than presenting himself as a journalist writing poetry, Kaushal allows the poetry to speak on its own terms.
Poetry Rooted In Experience
Hamnasheen is not a collection that seeks to dazzle with linguistic complexity or elaborate metaphors. Instead, it draws its strength from emotional honesty.
Love, separation, loneliness, companionship, fleeting happiness and the quiet acceptance of life’s contradictions form the emotional landscape of the collection. These are familiar themes in the ghazal tradition, yet Kaushal approaches them with restraint rather than theatricality.
The opening verses immediately establish that tone:
“ सब कुछ था पास मेरे,
एक तेरे इश्क़ के सिवा,
आज हूँ बीमार-ए-इश्क़,
कुछ नहीं हैं, बस तन्हाइयाँ…
( I had everything, save for your love; today, I am love-stricken, with nothing left but solitude.)”
Later, another couplet reflects the same understated melancholy:
“ “लोग कहते हैं आवारा मेरी आवारगी देखकर,
ये बेचारगी ‘कौशल’ तेरी फ़ितरत ही तो है…
(Seeing my wanderings, people call me a vagabond; yet, Kaushal, this helplessness is simply your nature.)”
These are not declarations designed for applause. They read instead like reflections accumulated over a lifetime.
The Journalist Never Quite Leaves
One of the collection’s distinguishing qualities is the influence of Kaushal’s journalistic temperament.
A reporter observes before concluding, and that instinct remains visible throughout Hamnasheen. Even when confronting loneliness or heartbreak, the poems rarely descend into self-pity. Pain exists, but so does perspective.
Hope is present without becoming sentimental. Love appears without slipping into melodrama. Solitude is acknowledged without surrendering to despair.
This balance gives the collection an emotional maturity often absent from debut works.
A Language That Invites Rather Than Intimidates
Kaushal writes in a register that comfortably bridges Hindi and Urdu.
Instead of relying on obscure vocabulary or ornate literary flourishes, he favours clarity and rhythm. The result is a collection that remains accessible to casual readers while still offering enough nuance to satisfy serious lovers of ghazal literature.
That simplicity should not be mistaken for lack of craft. Many of the strongest poems achieve their impact precisely because they resist excess.
A Quiet Rebuttal To The Age Of Viral Poetry
The publication arrives at a time when much contemporary poetry is shaped by social media algorithms, where brevity and instant emotional impact often take precedence over lasting resonance.
Hamnasheen takes a different path.
Its poems ask readers to slow down rather than scroll past. They reward contemplation more than instant affirmation, suggesting that enduring literature is still rooted in lived experience rather than performative expression.
Whether intentionally or not, the collection becomes a reminder that poetry continues to flourish beyond the metrics of likes and shares.
More Than A Debut
For readers familiar with Anand Kaushal only through his journalistic career, Hamnasheen may come as a surprise. Yet it never feels like an exercise in reinvention. Instead, it reads as the unveiling of a voice that had long existed alongside the public persona.
The collection succeeds because it avoids trying to prove anything. It simply offers its emotions with sincerity.
That sincerity is its greatest achievement.
Verdict
Hamnasheen is less concerned with literary spectacle than with emotional authenticity. It is a collection that invites readers to revisit memories, examine solitude and rediscover hope without resorting to sentimentality.
As a debut, it marks a confident beginning. More importantly, it introduces Anand Kaushal not merely as a chronicler of events, but as a writer attentive to the quieter truths that often escape the headlines.
If journalism records what happened, Hamnasheen asks what it felt like. That distinction—and the sensitivity with which Kaushal explores it—makes this a rewarding and memorable first collection.
Book Name: Hamnasheen
Author: Anand Kaushal
Publisher: Sahityagam Prakashan
Price– Rs 200
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