Translations are never easy. Much of Hindi poetry and its references depend on grasping specific words in the context of a tradition. For instance, how does one translate the wonderfully evocative line in “Lucknow”, “shaame awadh ko shaamate awadh ki tarah bitaya”? Or give the technical resonances of the term ulatbansi in “Aaj Ka Kabirdas”? But it is a measure of Kunwar Narain’s accessibility, and the success of these translations, that they mange to overcome these challenges. Apurva Narain’s translation will definitely set a new benchmark. The translations are luminous, evidence of someone having wrestled with the inner meaning of the poems. The judgment calls, on when to translate and when to paraphrase, when to emphasise rhyme and when to privilege meaning, are very well made. For those not fluent in Hindi, the translations will serve as outstandingly readable poems in their own right. And for those fluent in Hindi, they open up new vistas of interpretation. This volume has both the Hindi and the English versions.

Those familiar with Narain’s work might quibble over one or two omissions, but on the whole the selection is judiciously made and insightfully organised around themes — early meditations, rough roads of history, journeys, the river does not grow old, trees, an intriguingly titled section, mirrors and shadows, remembrances and humanesque, all titles that give a fair sense of their content. Many of the poems have their share of surprises: a minute observation often moves on to an unexpected thought, like ruins leading to a meditation on the ironic nature of history.

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