EIGHT DECADES OF POETRY

The poetry book is an expression of the journey of almost every person as one grows and evolves with time. The first poem that the poet penned down was at the tender age of 18, when the mind starts to ponder over the various tones of life. The fledgling mind of a poet tends to ponder more over the wary nature of life. His poems like` I Wait for a Change` Navet, are its touching embodiment. With time, his faith in humanity and comradeship grows as he works on the difficult assignments of hydroelectric projects in most adverse conditions. His empathy and compassion for the workers as he calls them` the unsung heroes` is conveyed in the poems such as` They also Worked, Martyrs of BSL`. In the Hindi poem like Pankti, the poet reflects upon the inevitable and unpredictable nature of death. In the poems like` Gaza and Hindi poem Bhagwan Putin`, he brings out the futility and pathos of war. In Bougainvillaea` his compassion reaches a crescendo as he relates to the sufferings of the plants standing on the verge of the highway. He repeatedly brings out the sufferings of the poor working class and the unemployed urchins, in the poems like Red and Green and The Rich and the Poor. In the poem I wait for a Change (1994), he lashes out at the evils of terrorism and corruption ailing the system. The readers will notice the evolution of human mind with the essence of ` joie de vivre` coming in the poems as the poet reaches the middle age and later. This cluster of poems is the story of every person. The poet is highly sensitive, observant and blessed to be able to pen it down so beautifully, both in English and Hindi. Interestingly, the poet is an engineer by profession. It is a journey of self-learning as the poet explains in his articles~ Students forever`. So, set out to read his poems and be part of his journey through Eight Decades of Poetry. Here is hoping that the readers will enjoy the experience