In Tepid Blue, a poetry and philosophy book by Dev Bhattacharyya, the author explores several concepts relating to Yoga and spirituality. Attempting to deliver the message in a straightforward manner, utterly without pretension, Bhattacharyya offers a text that encourages the reader to embrace their true self and brings about the idea of the creative force of will in its most primal form. Tepid Blue is a book that defies easy categorization, each line and verse demanding to be chewed over several times, and I found myself struggling with some parts of the text.

While the message is simple, it's sometimes easy for the reader to lose oneself in the rhythm of the stanzas, and I would find myself doubling back often to understand a particular piece. Luckily, Bhattacharyya provides many footnotes for people like me who might not be as well versed in the philosophy of Yoga. I really enjoyed the chance to learn something new.

There are also many wonderful photographs taken by the author which pair very nicely with the text and are beautifully captured. As someone interested in photography, I felt the pictures made for an exciting addition and I found myself looking forward to them as the book progressed.

Overall, Tepid Blue by Dev Bhattacharyya challenges the notion of a sole all-powerful benefactor that only responds to devotion. A book of passion and nuance, Tepid Blue is for anyone looking to explore new realms of consciousness.

"Once the void 
of ignorance is filled with wisdom
The alliance disappears
ushering a new freedom"

Tepid Blue by Dev Bhattacharyya is simply profound. Studying English literature seriously forced me to like poetry, whether it was rough, dry or dull. This book of poetry is none of these. As I said, it was profound and simple, and that is the beauty of it. Dev talks about simple things, things that have a huge meaning in our lives, but we don’t pay much attention to them because we take these little things for granted. It is very philosophical and, as Dev said, it is very “unassuming” and that makes this book one of a kind.

The poems have very simple ideas, talking about our lives and how they have become a train traveling at high speed. I loved the fact that Dev took the time to put pictures in his book. Although I don’t really care for pictures when I am reading, this was special. The pictures tied everything together and sometimes I found myself simply looking at the pictures and contemplating their meaning. I liked reading the poem, then stopping to stare the pictures, and it simply completed the thought Dev wanted to convey. It was simple and flawless.

It is definitely a great book; I would also like to commend the author on the cover image. Often poets usually only focus on the work and sort of disregard the cover. But Dev paid great attention to the cover and it worked. Really, really good!