Life Inspires

When I started writing the little poems that would later be published as " Loveflakes : Memories of Mirages ", I just wanted to express myself. Yes, I always knew that I would like to see these verses as part of a book some day, but I never thought that the book would move and inspire people of all generations. I was so pleasantly surprised and immensely grateful to Dr Vinod Prakash when I found out that he has been silently translating some of the verses into Hindi.  Dr Prakash attended school in his village, studying under the cool shade of old trees. He completed his Master's, B. Ed, and D.Phil from Garhwal Vishwavidyalaya, Srinagar. He spent his professional life teaching primary, intermediate, and Degree classes Hindi and English, before retiring in 2011 from Intermediate College. He loves reading poetry and is especially draw to the works of poets like Keats, Wordsworth, Kabir and several others. At present he is studying literary and spiritual books such as Geeta ,...

Vibha with Bharati Malhotra (Cover Artist and Illustrator)(Left) and Poonam Bhalla (Illustrator)(Right) Vibha Malhotra’s book of prose poetry, titled Loveflakes: Memories of Mirages , published by Hawakal Publishers, was launched on April 30th at Kunzum Bookstore, Basant Lok, Vasant Vihar. Eminent poet and recipient of the 2018 Tagore Literary Prize, Kiriti Sengupta, introduced and initiated the event. Editor and Theatre Artist Somudranil Sarkar initiated the conversation with Vibha about her creative process and her thoughts on accessibility or inaccessibility of poems. The discussion also veered around the choice of the topic – ‘Love’ – in times when people are increasingly using poetry to raise questions about the current state of affairs. 

Title: Shimmer Spring: prose and poetry Edited by Kiriti Sengupta ISBN: 9788194853848 Price: INR 2500/- | USD 31.99 Page: 124 Published by Hawakal Publishers (New Delhi | Calcutta) in November 2020 Reviewed by Vibha Malhotra (Review first published on Kitaab.org ) Hope, the entity we desperately try to hold on to in these unusual times of loss and repatriation, is light, some would say. And yet, the light also reveals the desolation and destruction. What is light then? Is it the beacon, or is it the whistleblower? In this context, Shimmer Spring , published by Hawakal Publishers (New Delhi & Calcutta), is an extraordinary collection, embracing both the temperaments of light. This hardbound volume—presented by recognized poet and editor Kiriti Sengupta, designed by Bitan Chakraborty, and embellished with vivid and fluid paintings by Pintu Biswas—is as enticing to the mind as it is to the eyes. In his introduction to Shimmer Spring , Sengupta states, “ light is a com...