These My Words: The Penguin Book Of Indian Poetry

The ultimate anthology of Indian poetry from the Vedas to the present in all the major Indian languages.
Selling Points: This anthology is one of a kind—it spans Indian poetry as a whole, across languages and periods. From Kalidasa to Vikram Seth, it features all the important poets of India.
The Book: These My Words is an anthology of magnificent breadth, ranging from Valmiki to Agha Shahid Ali, Aurobindo to Vikram Seth, Andal to Tagore, spanning Indian poetry in its myriad forms, styles and languages. The poems speak for themselves and to each other, as folk songs and tribal epics sit alongside classical Sanskrit and formal Tamil verse is a companion to contemporary Bengali or Dogri. There is Ghalib in praise of love, Tukaram on religious bigotry, Ksetrayya on divine love through the erotic, Gieve Patel on identity. In Eunice de Souza and Melanie Silgardo’s carefully curated selection, each poem illumines exquisitely the tradition of Indian poetry.