Sab kuchh Hona Bacha Rahega

This collection of poems possesses a vision that dares to see time in blossoming buds rather than falling leaves. Vinod Kumar Shuklas poems are not poems that hoist words like flags. A language that disappears, leaving experiences behind, or that asserts itself through the originality of its astonishing syntax, is the hallmark of these poems. ... Mars is desolate. There is silence in Earths neighborhood. Asking where Earths people will go in times of crisis, his poems engage our empathy with the greatest dimensions, unprecedented for contemporary poetry. It is a pleasant surprise to see how Vinod Kumar Shukla reconstructs the truth and the remaining faith in life from the very language that politicians have derided and poets have rendered meaningless. These poems feature children of working women, who taste the sweat on their mothers breasts before they even know how to milk. In his own words, this is a rare breed of poetry that allows a bored reader to take a few deep breaths of freshness. ...The power and detachment that allows this stone to carve time like wax lies in Vinod Kumar Shuklas non-literary background and inclinations. It is a rare combination of his scientific understanding and sensitivity and a deep love for life that makes trees, stones, water, and air seem like our ancestors (which they truly are). ...There is a wonderful soulful touch in the vision that the things it touches come alive and begin to demand their rights. Thus, when viewed as a whole, the collection seems to indicate that these poems, confronting a time filled with corpses, not only refuse to accept death as humanitys destiny but also provide the necessary resources for survival. Naresh Saxena