ITANAGAR, 25 Jul: Madhu Raghavendra’s fifth collection of poems, Seeking the Infinite, published by Red River, emerges from his current series of work revolving around his contemporary interpretation of bhakti poetry, creating newer horizons of spiritualism and mindfulness in his poetics.
In the opening note of the collection, he mentions: “The poems in this collection are moments of dhyana or meditation, conversations with my myriad interpretations of Shiva. These are contemporary bhakti poems where I bow in spirituality, yearn for the divine, weave the thread of interspersed mindfulness through work, people, art, and artists across the world.
“Some of the poems were born and written during my time as poet-in-residence at the University of Stirling, Scotland as a part of the Charles Wallace Fellowship. Some poems were written at the first edition of the Ajanta Ellora Arts Residency,” Raghavendra says.
One of the blurbs, by Gemma Robinson, University of Stirling, Scotland states: “Madhu Raghavendra’s Seeking the Infinite is a tender meditation on his myriad world. Devotion and longing persist in these contemporary landscapes and experiences, where bhakti traditions emerge in unexpected places – from pallanguzhi games to coal clouds to flower stalls. The collection’s recurring line, ‘I miss you’, becomes an expansive, transformative refrain. In ‘Greet’, the speaker asks ‘Can I come to you/also on the days/I have nothing to offer?’ But Raghavendra’s poetry is always plentiful: a playful and linguistically provocative gift. Here is work that understands how spiritual yearning dwells in both temple and landfill, camphor and ‘soaking words’, encouraging us to linger with Raghavendra’s searching poems of gentle and alert revelation.”