New Delhi, Mar. 30 : ‘The seduction of Delhi’, a poetry book authored by Indian poet diplomat Abhay K, released at the beginning of this year at Jaipur Literature Festival has made it to the best seller.
The book contains poems on historic cities of Delhi such as Purana Qila, Feroz Shah Kotla, Shahjahanabad as well as modern landmarks such as Khan Market, Connaught Place, South Block, Shashtri Bhawan, Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park and Jawaharlal Nehru University among others.
The book also has portraits of past inhabitants of Delhi such as Ghalib, Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq, Amir Khusro, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Dara Shikoh as well as present inhabitants like the Flower Girl, Bureaucrats, Maids, and Security Guards.
The book has been exquisitely illustrated by the Italian artist Tarshito, making it a collector’s item.
“We were little sceptical when we were publishing this book. These poetry books really do not have market in the country, especially the Indian poetry is not very popular. It is very difficult to sell Indian poetry, but to our pleasant surprise this book has done reasonably well and we have been able to sell 500 copies in four months time,” said Suresh Gopal, the publisher of Bloomsbury Publishing India Limited.
The book is well written and very evocative of the beauty of Delhi that highlights the history and glory in a poetic way.
“We have analyzed that the success of this book is focused on one town which is Delhi. It covers various monuments of Delhi. The poetry has been done extremely well about the monuments and also the imagery which the Italian artist Tarshito has done adds to the beauty of the book. By enlarge the poetry books are about love and those kinds of topics. Well, this book focuses on town which is different than a normal poetry book. In addition, Abhay writes very well that is the reason why this book has been accepted,” Gopal added.
The Seduction of Delhi is the fifth collection of poems by the poet-diplomat, who has been awarded SAARC Literary Award and nominated for the Pushcart Prize earlier.
Abhay, who is currently India’s First Secretary in Kathmandu, has been appointed as the Director of the Nehru Centre in London.