I Saw Myself Journeys with Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai

I saw myselfI was the BelovedI made the worldI myself seek itTravelling into the stark deserts of Kutch I Saw Myself explores the contemporary presence of epic love legends of the region such as Sohini-Mehar and Sasui-Punhu brought to throbbing verse by the powerful eighteenth-century Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. As the authors travel to villages to meet folk singers and lovers of Latif's poetry immersing in sessions that stretch into the night they unearth a unique thriving love-soaked ethos in which the call to oneness rings out like a defiant manifesto for our divisive times. Retelling epics along with other tales and historical events that created the field of experience from which Shah Latif's poems sprang I Saw Myself brings into English a selection of his finest poems. A spell is cast of story and song of metaphor and meaning. The insights that emerge are subtle even startling radical at times solace-giving at others but always deeply meaningful. About the Author Shabnam Virmani is a film-maker.Vipul Rikhi is a poet and translator.