To Amerope and Other Poems (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781412077965)

Born on 4th May 1971 to protestant parents in a small village of a tribal Gujarat, he was reared strictly according to the Christian religious tradition and the distinctly urban Gujarati social tradition.

His father was a professor of English literature and his mother, a scholar of Gujarati literature. So he has literature in his blood, so to speak. But since his mother tongue is Gujarati and he didn't know English, nor was he ready to learn it from his father because of his hard taskmastership which shied him away from it, he was naturally inclined towards Gujarati literature.

However, after studying the subjects of science at the level of secondary education without much success, he changed the stream and decided to study English literature at the B.A. level. But he did not find it very easy to get admission in any arts college because of the low percentage he scored in English in the 12th standard, and also his inability to answer any of the questions asked to him during the interviews. Indeed, he could not utter even a simple and short sentence in English. After much pleading with the principal of the Nav Gujarat Arts College, he was given the chance to study English literature. If today he is able to take the Masters degree with this same subject, some credit also goes to the principal of the Nav Gujarat Arts College. Presently, he is doing a distance learning program in creative writing.

Though this decision of studying English literature was taken purely from career point-of-view, it marked a significant turn in his life. It provided him with the opportunity for cultural exchange with Great Britain through her literature, and stimulated his mind with great ideas. The more he read, the more his hunger grew. At the same time, he began to feel intensely how good it would be if he could express himself even half as well as the authors he studied. This desire led him to write. To Amerope and Other Poems is the first fruit of his decade-long grueling labour. He strongly believes that without God's help the publication of this small book of verse would not have been possible. After To Amerope and Other Poems, he is looking forward to engage himself with the task of revising his novel entitled, "On Earth the Broken Arcs in Heaven a Perfect Round," which he finished writing two-three years back.