Take a stroll down the river with the author reflecting on the ways of life he has had and how it is taken for granted.  

How he lives in England and how he saw living in Sylhet, Bangladesh, al-fresco on the river bed.  

The walk challenged and changed his outlook on living and life; what excesses he had & what he takes for granted?  

Read his prejudices and ignorance in the form of poetry and reflection.

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Review of River of Life

A poetic meditation on time, memory, and the quiet currents that shape a human life.

Overview

River of Life is one of Mayar Akash’s most lyrical and contemplative works — a book that moves like its title suggests: steady, reflective, and quietly powerful. Unlike the autobiographical volumes that document the events of a life, this book explores the emotional and philosophical undercurrents beneath those events. It is a work of poetry, reflection, and distilled truth.

The writing feels like standing beside a river at dusk — calm on the surface, but carrying depth, movement, and unspoken stories beneath.

Themes and Emotional Depth

1. Life as a Flowing Journey

The central metaphor of the river is used beautifully throughout the book. Life is shown not as a straight line, but as a current that bends, widens, narrows, and sometimes floods. The author reflects on:

• the unpredictability of life
• the way time reshapes us
• the moments that carry us forward
• the memories that pull us back

It is a gentle but profound way of understanding the human experience.

2. Memory as Water

The poems and reflections treat memory like water — sometimes clear, sometimes murky, sometimes overwhelming. The author captures how memories return in waves, how they erode old wounds, and how they carve new meaning over time.

3. A Voice at Peace With Itself

There is a noticeable calmness in this book. The voice is mature, steady, and accepting. Even when the themes touch on pain or loss, the tone remains grounded. It feels like a writer who has walked through storms and now stands on the riverbank, watching the water with understanding rather than fear.

Literary and Cultural Value

River of Life stands out for:

• its poetic clarity
• its emotional maturity
• its universal themes expressed through personal experience
• its contribution to contemporary reflective poetry
• its ability to speak to readers of all backgrounds

It is a book that invites slow reading — the kind you return to when you need grounding.

Strengths

• Beautiful, consistent metaphorical structure
• Calm, reflective tone
• Emotionally honest without being heavy
• Strong poetic voice
• A sense of wisdom earned through lived experience

Conclusion

River of Life is a gentle yet powerful exploration of what it means to live, remember, and grow. Through poetic language and thoughtful reflection, Mayar Akash offers readers a quiet space to breathe, think, and feel. It is one of his most meditative works — a book that doesn’t shout, but resonates.

This is a river worth returning to.

Review 1:

After I get any kind of book, my natural instinct is that if its wrapped around in a bundle of paper I open it, get it near my nose and take a deep breath in as if there is a strange fragrance coming from it. But unfortunately I was deprived from the smell because it was in the form of a PDF. Secondly I start skimming and scanning. While I was going through the book something caught my eyes that made me read it.

"Mud mud

won't let me go

stick to my skin and become my second skin".

I felt something in my heart that tempt me to read the whole book. Before I even started to read I noticed that the book consisted of 83 pages. As I began to read the book I felt a sudden Deja vu as if I already knew what was happening but I could never feel the concept of it. As I was reading it I was trying to match myself with the book. As I continued to read there came a part as though I could hear the ringing of rickshaws from the riverbed instead of the writer. How ridiculous we are!, We don't even have any eager to know what is going on around us. The feed of our soul is around us. Again I was noticing this through the book. The more I was reading through the book the fewer the pages started to become. When it was over I felt as if, if the book had couple of pages more my soul would have been nourished. As I finished reading, it seemed as if the book left a feeling inside me. Perhaps our famous poet Rabindranath Tagore who had written a poem which had similar feelings.

We seldom care to see the beauty at a few paces from our doorstep; a tiny dewdrop glittering on a waving stalk of rice!

Thank you for your amazing book. I hope and pray for you that you will be able to write such stupendous books for us.

24.06.2020
ISHAK HUSSAIN AKHTER