When life leaves loose ends, poetry begins to fix

Life, in Jaspreet’s world, is not romanticised. It is concrete-hard, ruthless, emotionally exacting — a puzzle that rarely offers neat endings. In the relentless race toward an ever-receding finish line, emotions are often left unattended, unresolved. Poetry, she believes, steps in where life falters. It soothes, stitches, and sometimes grants the closure we never receive.

“Poetry,” she says, “is like a balm on the bleeding wounds of the heart.”

Her upcoming poetry collection, ‘Savoir Faire’, embodies that belief. A gentle yet powerful salve, the book meanders through nostalgia, the torn fragments of old love letters, damp pillows heavy with unshed tears, heartbreak, struggle, self-healing, and eventually, quiet bliss. The poems do not shout; they linger.

An army wife, Jaspreet’s emotional landscape has always been intense — shaped by separation, uncertainty, resilience, and constant reinvention. “The buffet of life,” she reflects, “has always been emotionally charged.” Yet it is precisely this charged terrain that has sharpened her voice, strengthening her not only as a woman but carving her path as a poet who refuses to surrender.

Armed with a Master’s degree in English and Cultural Studies from Panjab University, and having co-authored several anthologies, Jaspreet is now poised to claim her own literary space — one where realism breathes, vulnerability is honoured, and emotions are never apologised for.

Her earlier book, ‘Comic Memoirs of Fauji Brats’, was a runaway success, though she admits it was never written with ambition in mind. “It was just an attempt to do justice to all the hilarious stories my mother-in-law used to narrate,” she laughs. “We would literally roll off our seats listening to her.” The overwhelming response, she says, came as a surprise — but comedy, for her, was only a beginning.

“Poetry has always been where my heart resides,” she confesses. “The art of touching the right notes of emotion in a crisp yet creative manner has always intrigued me. Poetry, I believe, is the most balanced diet for the soul.”

The title ‘Savoir Faire’, a French phrase, resonates deeply with her philosophy. “It means possessing the courage to put your emotions out in public,” she explains. The poems are deliberately crafted to speak across age groups — cascading from memory to emotion, from lived reality to contentment. There is no pretence, only honesty.

Her love for poetry was seeded early. Raised on parallel cinema, she credits her mother for introducing her to films like Ardh Satya, Ijaazat, Mandi, Saaransh, Bazaar, and Masoom. “The realism and unconventional narratives fascinated me,” she recalls. Music followed naturally — especially the lyricism of Gulzar. “His words found a permanent address in my heart.” From there, her literary universe expanded to include poets as diverse as John Keats and Jaun Elia, each deepening her romantic and introspective sensibility.

The inspiration behind ‘Savoir Faire’ is deeply personal. “We often think stories belong to cinema,” she says, “until one fine day, your own life becomes dramatic enough to be a script.” Destiny, she admits, pushed her into the roughest waters. “The waves were violent, but I was adamant about reaching the shore where the sun shone brightest.”

Rather than surrendering to despair, Jaspreet chose creation. “Trauma has a way of pulling us into darkness,” she reflects, “but we forget that like the deer searching for musk, what we seek is already within us.” Her poems are born from that realisation — from pain transmuted into persistence, from survival shaped into art. That she chose comedy as her first professional step, she believes, is proof of her refusal to be defined by suffering.

Beyond literature, her inspirations flow from cinema, music across genres, and movement. A trained Kathak dancer, she draws deeply from rhythm and expression. “Dance teaches you how to speak without words,” she says — a skill that subtly permeates her poetry.

Looking ahead, Jaspreet promises laughter once again. A sequel to ‘Comic Memoirs of Fauji Brats’ is already underway, and by mid-2026, readers can expect another generous dose of humour and nostalgia.

Until then, ‘Savoir Faire’ invites readers to pause, feel, remember — and most importantly, to heal.