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KOLKATA DREAMS

K. Gandhar Chakravarty — Poetry / Travel Poetry / Indian Literature

Book Description

KOLKATA DREAMS is a work of travel poetry that will transport you across the sea to northeastern India. The poems explore the idealization of Mother India against the realities of its westernization from the perspective of a Canadian-born Indo-North American discovering his heritage for the first time. When reading and reciting this poetry — you may be forced to voice these poems aloud — you will find that laughter often chokes itself on tears while the book yo-yos between meditation and contemplation.

The experimental use of a first-person/third-person singular-detached narrator encapsulates the feeling of disembodiment often felt by the voyager, especially in this case, as the poet simultaneously belongs to yet remains apart from the cultures he explores. Chakravarty's poems are peopled by sages and fools, lovers and gods, but the theme behind all is an open-eyed wonder at the connection of all things earthly. At the same time, the poems are illuminated by an interest in the places where heaven and earth meet and mix — Chakravarty is a theologian, and his sensitivity to the primal pulse of religious feeling is evident throughout.

In short, KOLKATA DREAMS is a must-read for anyone interested in the balance between tradition and modernity, particularly in the context of globalization and twenty-first century India.

Pull Quotes

"This is a book of exotic smells, sounds, and sights. Chakravarty's poems come alive in the reading and their languid syllables roll off the tongue. Like the land he is describing, Chakravarty's poems invite you in as an interested traveller and then change you as you live them."

Matthew Anderson, CBC / QWF Literary Award Winner

"In Kolkata Dreams, Komal Gandhar journeys through the detritus and dreams of dying cities and cultures across the globe... His verses have a zen-like charm and a sufi throwaway flavour exuding either easy flowing rhythms or streetsmart lingo that are often pleasing, occasionally shocking, and always interesting."

Amitava Roy, Professor of English, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata

"I enjoyed reading his book immensely. So I hope many other readers will."

Sunil Gangopadhyay, President, Sahitya Academy and Bestselling Poet & Novelist

Recognition

• K. Gandhar Chakravarty has received several international awards for his fusion of music and poetry.

Author Bio

K. GANDHAR CHAKRAVARTY (Komal Gandhar), named after a beautiful Indian Raga, is a Canadian-born Bengali poet, musician, and theologian. Raised in a Bengali cultural atmosphere in Canada, he imbibed his heritage while also learning the culture of his adopted country. His work fuses his twin inheritances — the mythic and spiritual depths of India with the fractured modernity of the West — into poetry of rare musicality and spiritual urgency. KOLKATA DREAMS is his debut collection.

Book Details

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