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"...make way for the children/They have to go much further than I have/Their worlds are many and far ahead of mine/ Theirs is the sky, theirs the earth and the era/ Don’t call them flower buds; they are the gardeners/Hear my voice, hear, the secret of love!" translated from the original, Meri Awaz Suno, by Kaifi Azmi.
Collecting 70 poems from over 90 jet-set globetrotting Indians took two years and must have been a daunting task. Yet, it is the stimulating foreword by Amartya Sen that not only validates the young editors’ sweat and toil but is a well-deserved feather in their cap. So, you have filmstars like Amitabh Bacchan and Shabana Azmi contributing gems from their respective poet-fathers viz Harivanshrai Bacchan and Kaifi Azmi (wonder why they did not request a poem from Jaya Bhaduri whose poet-father’s contribution could have been a ‘perfect match’?). Industrialists and entrepreneurs like Lord Bagri, Rahul Bajaj, Adi Godrej, Uday Kotak, Harsh Goenka and Azim Premji sharing their favourite poems and word space with social activists like Baba Amte, Ela Bhatt and Aruna Roy. The compilers have ensured that poets and writers like Gulzar, Shashi Tharoor, Vikram Seth and Shobhaa De reveal what pieces of poetry touch them capturing along the side a favourite of Mulk Raj Anand who is no more. Filmmakers, sportspersons, politicians, statesmen and bureaucrats, dancers, singers and artistes, the list takes into account representatives from various fields. Most of the poems are truly motivating pieces which have helped uplift the spirits of these famous people from time to time. The rest are a medley of soul-searching or simply beautiful poems that could be called perfect prescriptions—a poem a day keeps the doctor away. Since the proceeds of this book go to CRY, buying this book will make your day as well as that of several kids too.
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Twin loves for poetry and
for children were the driving forces behind this unique anthology of
poems by two enthusiastic expat students. The idea of collecting the
favourite poems of famous Indians all over the globe may have been
borrowed from a similar global-level project in the 1980s called the ‘Lifelines’,
but the editors lovingly adopted it. Add to that the editors’
association with CRY, an association that champions the cause of
underprivileged children, and their urge to "make a positive
difference that could not merely be written off as a paycheck," the
collection more than redeems itself.