Academician-turned-poet comes up with debut book

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 18

Having being engaged in academic preoccupations, taking her to various parts of the world in the last two decades, Kiran Sandhu, an associate professor in the School of Planning, GNDU, has come up with her debut book of poetry titled “Celestial Descent”.

A master’s in development and planning from the prestigious University College, London, and a PhD in Urban Environmental Planning from Griffith University, Australia, Kiran has authored academic books in the past, but this is her first literary publication. Her shift from academic genres to the creative realm of poetry, she says, was spontaneous.

“It began as small encounters with the self, gradually manifested into a forage inside the larger dimensions beyond the self and perhaps the quest that will take a lifetime or beyond. I aspire to reach out to the readers who are beginning to or have perhaps already began their inward journey to go beyond the self,” says Kiran, who is currently based in Amritsar and shuffles between India and Romania, her second home, being married to a Romanian Citizen.

As the title indicates, the book is based upon the spiritual genre and man’s quest to discover the mystical realms of life and creation. It has 27 poems arranged under four sub-heads: Divine Encounters, Nature’s Musings, Revered Touch and The Oneness. “The poetry is about every individual’s search, quite contrary to what we might think is beyond the material self. It’s about the deep conversations one might have while sipping tea with the Buddha or having an engaging discourse with Rumi, the Sufi Mystic. For poetry lovers, I feel that the book will speak to them, might be worth adding to their collection,” says Kiran.

The book is available on Amazon India and International. Currently its kindle version, which can be read on smartphone or laptop is free to download from Amazon for a limited period of time along with free Amazon kindle app. Her debut is not only her attempt to express creatively, but also a means to support a cause. Kiran says that the sale proceeds from the book are to help the poor rickshawallas in the city, who are facing tough times under the current pandemic. “I am already running a small initiative for them to support them through these difficult times,” she says.