Lifelong Search for Home (Collected English Poems of Ved Prakash Vatuk)

Lifelong Search for Home is the first anthology focused exclusively on the poems Vatuk has written in English bringing together seven now out-of-print volumes of poetry published by Indian and US publishers between 1969 and 2005. The title of this anthology is meant to highlight the ambiguity of belonging that frames Vatuk’s broader oeuvre and lurks behind each poem appearing in this collection. Now 91 years of age and still living in Meerut Vatuk has written some 45000 poems in Hindi and 4700 poems in English over the course of his lifetime. Any poet who has attempted to write in a language other than that of their youth knows how challenging it is to develop facility in the aesthetics of a second language. In the author’s note that follows this introduction Vatuk in characteristic humility suggests that ‘even if one line or one poem is liked by one reader I am satisfied’. Certainly this anthology provides many lines and poems that will be liked by its readers. For English readers the poetry republished in this anthology gives a glimpse into the mind and work of one of the most respected Hindi poets in contemporary India. For readers interested in Vatuk’s Hindi poetry the anthology is essential reading for understanding the sociopolitical critique that lies behind his broader oeuvre. Poetry and politics are not normally encountered together but for Vatuk a people’s poet in search of belonging they are inseparable. -Kira Hall (Boulder)