The Seduction of Delhi Abhay K

The poems are in three thematic lines, viz, Places, Portraits and Reflections, which dovetail into one another to make Seduction of Delhi a remarkable, exciting book. Qualities of love, tenderness and compassion set the work apart from much of the general run of current poetics. Like the River Yamuna, the author feels its “dark silver/draining darkness/form Delhi’s soul.” The poems speak from the heart in a language that doesn’t compromise. Delhi has been widely described as a dry, energy draining place, even a hermaphrodite…the authors attempts in the book to prove otherwise. At first glance, his short, epigrammatic poems might appear just flaccid snapshots or single-boned vignettes of an outsider in a mad and sprawling metropolis known these days for its infamous gang rapes. But a closer look reveals how the poet steps back to withdraw his self into a cocoon, to gain an artistic poise and to empower each and every item, object,relic, monument and figure – a distinct voice and color. Lal Quila, Jantar Mantar, a flower girl, an auto rickshaw, Connaught Place, a house maid, Rahim, Jamun tree, Ghalib or Dara Shikoh walk with their first person personas in the lanes of Delhi conjuring a memorable recital, a jam that defines the essence of this legendary city…’Seduction of Delhi’ is an artistic triumph in many ways.