Walls of Blue Waters

Sebastian is one of the most prominent contemporary poets in Malayalam. Readers and students in Kerala have warmly responded to his delicately crafted work. They hear the resonance of a pioneering voice in these poems. The quietness of contemplation and the meaningless bustle of the postmodern age achieve a unique poise here. Anger over heartless outrages seen in his stinging sarcasm, heavy despair over man's helplessness and occasional celebration of experiences of profoundly spiritual calm endear these poems to contemporary readers. The English rendering has been undertaken in the belief that works of such rare artistic finesse should be made available to lovers of poetry all over the world. I should mention, however, that transferring the aesthetic experience of Sebastian's poetry into a wholly different cultural matrix has been extremely difficult.