Review: Rann Ji Goonj (Desert Echoes)

Name -Rann Ji Goonj (Desert Echoes)

Pages -36

Authors/Poets -

Kalansh Gala, Chandni Bhanushali, Deepika Gala, Sagar Goswami, Manali Manojgiri Goswami, Manish Maraj, Jayprakash V. Makwana, Maheshwari Priyanka Ashokbhai, Hardik Gor, <aheshwari Heena, Rozmeen, Amankumar Rameshbhai Joshi

Language -Kutchi (translated into English), Bilingual
Genre -Anthology of Poems

Translated By -Kalansh Gala

Illustrated By -Qurratain Shamoon
Rating -5/5
Source -Kalansh Gala & team
ISBN - 978-1-64805-288-0
Review no. -15
Synopsis -

Rann Ji Goonj or ‘Desert Echoes’ is a collection of poems from Kutch compiled through the Kutchi Poetry Competition 2019.

These poems are the surviving voices of Kutch’s ancient culture. This edition contains poems of love, of heritage, of memories and of the language.

Review -

The book 'Rann Ji Goonj' or 'Desert Echoes' is a anthology of 17 extremely well-weaved poems compiled through the Kutchi Poetry Competition 2019. Each poem in the book is originally written in Kutchi and then translated into English on the immediate next page to show that English is 'nothing more than a bridge'. Most of the poems have beautiful illustrations which were drawn by Qurratain Shamoon on the background or beside the poem.

Even though I read only the English translation of the poems, I felt that each and every poem has proved to be successful in delivering an essence of Kutch to the reader. I have only been to Kutch once before and that after reading this book, I felt a sudden respect towards the language and culture of the land of Kutch rise in me. And above all it made me curious to learn the Kutchi language. I so want to read the poems in the original form too!

I loved all the poems in this book. But I still do have a few favorites and they are- Listen by Kalansh Gala, Success (A Motivating Poem) by Chandni Bhanushali, Do Something by Sagar Goswami and Get up and walk by Deepika Gala.

I definitely recommend this book not only for the Kutchis and Gujaratis but for everyone because even the English translation was really good! Also, this book made me make up my mind to learn Kutchi language by online classes whereas before reading this book I didn't even know that a language known as Kutchi existed!

P.s. -The first thing that came to my mind after reading the translated title of this book (Desert Echoes) was the drawing which I made when I was in class 5 (yes!! I still remember) and that's why I have posted a photo of it above.