This book of verse-like fragments revisits the past through a myopic lens of deeply personal experiences, where the poet steps out of his comfort zone and tries on the shoes of the others — summoning lives from myths, histories and imagination, swapping experiences.

Dibyajyoti Sarma looks for his origins in incantatory mythologies. His remembrances are searching, his voice engaging. In sourcing his roots, Sarma appropriates the very elements. This is a poet ever on the lookout to subvert his material. A dangerous writer. Cp Surendran

Intuitively conceived in a style which is apologetic, almost, Sarma creates a world which can be traced back to his home in Assam. Laden with symbolist images from his urban city day-to-day-existence, Book of Prayers creates a transmutation of myths and fables and anecdotes, all rolled into one. This is a telegram to the gods — if they are listening. Ramu Ramanathan

An entire community seems to be seeking its rightful place in the world of poetry through Book of Prayers. A polyphonic fete, this book invites the readers to at once breathe the native breeze of Assam even as its eclectic range takes us across the globe. Drawing from several cultural resources, Book of Prayers captivates us with its evocative power, dense details, rich allusiveness, and with its pure lyrical strength. Kamalakar Bhat

In this collection of intensely personal poems, Sarma has fused the mythology of the Mahabharat and ancient Assam with his personal mythology, taking the reader on a voyage, an adventure, through ages, geographies and memories. This is a landscape of love, loss and longing, where one might encounter flora that seems familiar but often bears startlingly strange fruit. The reader is seduced to eat it, knowing well that they might be infected with melancholia. Uttaran Das Gupta

Now available at https://www.amazon.in/dp/8193613090