Shiva in Manhattan and other poems

Shiva in Manhattan is the first book of English Poems by Haraprasad Das a leading contemporary Indian Poet known until now for his Odia poems. The English poems in this book traverse a wide range of affinities and concerns. The poetic voice is that of an urban bilingual Indian at ease with the traditions of both the languages. There are poems in the collection that interpret the metropolitan images of New York London Copenhagen Warsaw and other cities. There are more poems that reinvent the colloquial iconic and ethnic subtexts of Indian identity cutting across geographical and linguistic barriers. In ‘Temples of Bhubaneswar’ ‘Rocks of Kutumsar’ ‘Lutyen’s Delhi’ and ‘Malabar Songs’ to name only a few the kaleidoscopic Indian experiences come alive in vivid metaphors and tantalizing word plays of incredible beauty. The title poem Shiva in Manhattan is dedicated to A.K. Ramanujan the celebrated Indian-English Poet. One can see many interplaying nuances and hear the subtle cadences of both metaphysical and lyrical poetry in these poems. The fading hymnal signatures can still be read from under the neon alphabets so beautifully crafted in ‘Praying in Half-light’. A worthy addition to the rich stock of contemporary Indian Poetry in English. A ‘must read’.