Book Review | ‘Darbadar’ by Surbhi Islam
In an age of hurried words and fleeting emotions, poetry remains one of the few spaces where feelings are allowed to breathe. Darbadar, the latest poetry collection by Surbhi Islam, stands as a quiet yet powerful reminder of this truth. This book is not merely a compilation of verses; it is a journey through heartbeats, inner truths, and the hidden depths of life.
Surbhi Islam’s poetry moves effortlessly between tenderness and turmoil. On one side, her words carry the softness of love, gentle, intimate, and deeply personal. On the other, they echo with the pain of society and the ache of humanity. Her verses do not escape reality; instead, they embrace it, questioning, observing, and reflecting upon the emotional landscape of modern life.
Each couplet and every line introduces the reader to emotions that we all experience but often fail to articulate. Loneliness, longing, hope, doubt, and silent suffering, these are feelings that live within us, unnamed and unspoken. Surbhi gives them language. With remarkable sensitivity, she turns abstract emotions into vivid expressions, allowing readers to recognize themselves within her words.
What makes Darbadar especially compelling is its universality. This is not a book meant only for literary circles or devoted poetry enthusiasts. It speaks to anyone who has ever loved, lost, waited, questioned, or felt unseen. The poems are accessible, yet layered. They invite both casual readers and seasoned lovers of poetry to pause and reflect.
The title Darbadar, which suggests wandering or being adrift, reflects the emotional state of many in today’s world. The poems capture the restlessness of the human spirit, its search for meaning, belonging, and truth. Love appears not as a romantic fantasy but as a lived experience, sometimes warm and healing, sometimes painful and unresolved. Alongside it stands solitude, not merely as absence but as a presence that shapes thought and identity.
Surbhi Islam does not offer easy answers. Her poetry asks questions, about relationships, society, and the self. Yet within these questions lie gentle responses, not in the form of conclusions, but in moments of recognition. The reader is encouraged to listen inward, to confront feelings long buried, and to find comfort in shared vulnerability.
There is a quiet confidence in her voice. She does not demand attention; she earns it. Her language flows with sincerity, making each poem feel like a conversation between two hearts. This ability to turn personal emotion into collective experience, is the true mark of a poet.
As readers turn the pages of Darbadar, they are likely to find reflections of their own lives in its verses. A line may recall an old love, a stanza may echo a personal loss, and a poem may voice a question they have never dared to ask. That is the magic of this collection.
Surbhi Islam has created more than a book; she has offered a mirror. In it, every reader may find a shadow of their own heart. And in doing so, Darbadar affirms what true poetry has always done, transform individual emotion into shared human truth.