"This collection of poems is inspired by true events, exploring the three most intimate aspects of life — love, the mind and the essence of living,” writes Bombay based blogger and copywriter Kayan Sarkari (pictured) in the preface to his 32-page booklet, Peace of Mind.
Sarkari, now 23, "began writing at an early age, scribbling short stories in his school notebooks… "What are words if it doesn’t make your hands tremble without a pen?” At 17 he committed to writing daily blogs, "exploring themes of love and self-discovery,” reads the note about the author on the rear cover. The 22 poems published in this collection deal with subjects he feels will help one look "beneath the surface.”
A touching poem dwells on another aspect of love, his relationship with his deceased grandmother: You didn’t die alone,/ a part of me went away too... "You raised my mother,/ someone just like you./ You’d be proud of her,/ and for that I love you.”
The young man’s angst filled quest for self-discovery and existential questioning is evident. Witness "A Tourist in Myself,” a quatrain, which reads: "Some of these words/ come from a place/ within me that/ I haven’t visited before.” In "The Mask” he writes: "I don’t want to search for experiences,/ I just want to feel them flow through me./ I need to look inward, to see clearer,/ To be more kind to my own soul,/ not just the world.”
The collection of poems has been self-published on the BookLeaf Publishing Platform, India, USA, UK and is available at www.bookleafpub.in and www.bookleafpub.com. There is no mention of price.
SHERENE VAKIL