I wrote Soul on Knees in 1982, when I was 13 years old. It captures the nature of despair, when all seems hopeless and one is lost in darkness. Compare this poem to Contemplation (1984), with its similar theme of
Soul on Knees
Youth
I wrote this poem in 1986, 18 years old. Youth is celebrated, but young hearts can wither, too. Pain, grief, loneliness and unrequited love know no age. Compare this poem to Death of a Girl, written two years earlier in
Children, Children!
This poem, written at age 15, mourns the loss of childhood. It was one of my late father, Ramesh Chandra Shukla’s favourite poems. The painting is by my mother, the artist Kusum Shukla. Compare this poem to The Hour of