Lamp Post

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Publisher : The Poetry Society of India

About the Book

As in everybody's life, some people, some circumstances or words of some writer act as lamp posts to illuminate the route markers when one is at crossroads and steeped in inner or outer darkness. 'Lamp Post' is an attempt to provide just that speck of light which provides a ray of hope in otherwise mist covered, blurred milieu of present times.
There is no dearth of poetry that satisfies the maxim 'Art for art's sake'. But in a complex world, art has an important supplementary role, a role that should also guide human sensibilities and portray sensitivity towards burning issues, material as well as temporal. In his classic work 'The Dance of Shiva' writer Ananda Commaraswami writes, inter alia '…and poetry is justified to man as it yields the fourfold Fruit of Life-Virtue, Pleasure, Wealth and Spiritual Freedom.'*
This multi-functionality of poetry is well depicted in this collection. The poems are devoid of heavy and overbearing metaphor that can make poetry obscure and difficult to decode for many common readers. The poems in this book are about common man's sensibilities and concerns. Every verse has been written in simple English, sweetly rhymed. The book would have served its purpose if even one poem, one stanza, one line or one word could shed some light, dispel darkness and show some way to a stranded wanderer or in the least can console a weary, woebegone mind.
The bitter sweet experiences of about 30 years of a hardworking life of the writer erupted at times as impromptu poetry- which has now been compiled in the form of this book. The oldest poem 'Shut Out' was written in 1980 in an old Delhi hotel near Fatehpuri, when the writer had a severe attack of migraine and the evening din and bustle of crowded bazaar aggravated it so much so that this poem flowed out on paper as it is now before you. Not a word in it has been re-written or edited. The last one 'Conscience' was written just a few days ago towards the end of January 2014.
Honest feedback of readers is most welcome and can be sent to the publishers or to the writer at [email protected]
*Taken from an essay titled 'Intellectual Fraternity' by Ananda Coomaraswamy , also contributed to 'Book of Homage to Shakespeare' edited by Israel Gollancz, London 1916.

About the Author

Vinod Kumar Khanna was born at Jalandhar (Punjab) in 1948. He is a Graduate Engineer and a Post Graduate in English literature. Though he worked in engineering profession, his passion and first love has been literature. He started writing at a very young age and had four books to his credit, published by the age while he was barely out of his teens.
During 1996, he took voluntary retirement while serving as a senior managerial executive with India's number one drug making company, to pursue his own consultancy as a Chartered Engineer, and more importantly, to devote time to his writing.
During an unblemished engineering career spanning over four decades in the corporate world, he never stopped writing. The social issues were always close to his heart and he frequently expressed his views in the national dailies from time to time.
His exposure was further widened by visits to many countries of Europe and Asia.
Since 1989, he is located in Chandigarh area.
This book contains some of the poems which he wrote during the last 30 years. Out of these, some have been shared on various poetry fora and Facebook. The encouraging comments of readers prompted him to approach Poetry Society of India, who agreed to publish this book containing 78 poems written by him. The result of this endeavour is in your hands.

Lamp Post