Böcker av Ayan Adak

Written in fond memory of 'Home', this collection of poems has been a re-discovery of quiet elements that have inspired me in the past in my homeland. Here, far away, as I brood, ponder and walk past tiny facets of everyday life - be it flowers, names or even buildings - many a memory come back to me in waves of nostalgia. I have used both melancholy and mirth arising from these emotions to express myself in these pages, creating an evocative bridge to connect this pensive present with that precious past.

In this collection of poems and essays, the writer pays tribute to Darjeeling, the Queen of the Hills, and one of India's most popular hill-stations, eponymous with its tea, considered the best in the world. Through his words, the writer recollects the picturesque beauty of Darjeeling, the awe-inspiring majesty of the Himalaya, and the people he met in his memorable travels, all framed by endlessly rolling verdant tea-gardens, the turquoise Teesta river and above all, the mighty Kanchenjunga peak that's stands guard like an ancient sentinel and looks over all with majesty and benevolence.

The Song of the Wayfarer is a collection of poems reminiscing some of the many places that inspired the writer on his everyday journey - from the rain-washed freshness of the monsoonal Sahyadri to the majesty of the humbling Himalaya to bustling cities with their own layers of hues and emotions. The poems evoke a sense of saudade in waves of nostalgia, as the writer muses about everyday life that can echo in almost every wayfarer's long journey - If not without, then at least within...

In this collection of poems and essays, the writer gets nostalgic about Mumbai and recollects the various moods of the city that resonated with him, besides reminiscing about his various journeys around the city, particularly into the Sahyadri, or the Western Ghats. Steeped in history, and luxuriating in the largesse of the monsoons, the writer looks back at emotions laden with melancholic romanticism, while yearning for the evocative grey clouds and rains that are so intrinsic to the singularity that is the Sahyadri.

This anthology is a tribute to flowers: those simple, everyday blossoms that we often take for granted but those which contain a universe of beauty within - floral and arboreal euphoria that can inundate the senses and yet be contained in the simplicity of pure existence, irrespective of attention or audience. The writer collects gems of memories from plateau laden with flowers, tea gardens nestled in the Himalaya or everyday flowers by the roadside, that gleam for moments few, yet continue to sing songs of the transience of beauty and the beauty of transience.