The Light through the Woods
Dreams of Survival of Human Soul in the Age of Technology
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The book The Light Through The Woods has the theme of how modern man has sacrificed his inner freedom and natural joy in living by creating and believing in the present culture. Maharaj Kaul, the author of the book, believes that man is born with inner freedom, joy, grandeur, and grace but as he grows up the culture corrupts him and then he is enchained by it to realize his full spiritual potential. By thinking that materialism and technology are the essences of life man has committed a spiritual suicide. Most of the poems in the book lament this tragic loss. The book-title poem, The Light Through The Woods, and the poems, Why Do I Keep My Lonely Ways?, Soul Of The Modern Man, The Nature Of Man, Is That What Is Human Life?, Walking The Last Footsteps In The World, and There Is No Time express this theme. The poems: The Light Through The Woods, The City And The Village, But Alas World Has Tied My Hands support the same vision of the modern man’s tragedy. The book also looks at the eternal drama of human condition in the following poems: On The Way To Eternity, A Reflection From The Mirror Of God, The Mercy Of Montessory Beach, Driving On I-84, A Cup Of Tea, Seeing Through A Window, Who Am I?, A Leaf Falls, Perspective Of Time, The Meaning Of Love, And A Cup Of Tea. Maharaj Kaul feels disappointed that man ignores one of the most powerful sources of human life - nature. He believes it holds the key to a richer experience of life. That perspective is woven in the following poems: Looking At The Lake, It Rained In Rockland Yesterday, and Flowers. The poet’s birthplace, Kashmir, India, holds a special place in his heart and mind. The poems Roots, Upon Waking Up On My Birthday, A Rendezvous At Habba Kadal, Nadir Monjays At Tarikh Holwoy’s Shop, Irrepressible Youth – The Reminiscences of Amar Singh College Years, and The Glory And The Exile express his joy in reminiscing the old life in and the magnificent beauty of Kashmir, India and his torment at its present political, human, and physical conditions. Poems looking at the eternal drama of human condition, the tragedy man has brought to himself by choosing materialism and technology as his culture, and the great neglect of his natural partner, nature, in the experience of life. Poems of searing reflection and great anguish at the present state of mankind.
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About the Book
In his second compilation of poetry, Kashmiri-American poet Maharaj Kaul explores the shimmering emptiness of modern life.
From the author of Meditations On Time and Inclinations And Reality: The Search For The Absolute comes an exciting new book of poetry, The Light Through The Woods. In it the poet bemoans how modern man has sacrificed his inner freedom and natural joy in living by creating and believing in the present culture of materialism and technology. He believes that man is born with inner freedom, joy, grandeur, and grace but as he grows up the existing culture corrupts him to realize these powerful elements. He strongly urges man to spiritually reconnect with nature to regain his soul.
The poems also celebrate the poet’s stunningly beautiful birthplace, Kashmir, India, and express his joy in reminiscing about his childhood there as well as his sadness as he contemplates the wastefulness of its political struggles and the tragic dispossession and diaspora of his people, Kashmiri Pandits.
The poems also reflect on the drama of human condition and the search of the human values.
A visionary collection of poems dreaming of man regaining his natural inner beauty.
About the Author
Maharaj Kaul was born in Kashmir, India, where he spent his childhood and boyhood. He graduated from Banaras University, India in electrical engineering and went on to Polytechnic Institute Of New York for the masters degree. He is the author of Inclinations And Reality: The Search For The Absolute, Meditation On Time, Destruction And Injustice: The Tribulations Of Kashmiri Pandits, and Life With Father. He retired from engineering after forty years of work and lives in Suffern, New York.