Poetry is Fusion of Thought and Feeling Says Eminent Poet Vihang A. Naik

Ever since the humans have stepped foot on this earth, they have found themselves on the brink of a perplexed thought-process. The thought-process which has made them entangle into a labyrinth which seems indecipherable. Those indecipherable thoughts demand a thorough understanding of the basic attributes of an individual which can be just understood by a poetic heart. The heart which can wither in pain, giggle in joy, peace in solace and positivity when there has been darkness all around can only be an element of a poet. A poet who can have those emotions which could be expressed and who could express it better than the acclaimed poet Vihang Ashokbhai Naik.

Mr Naik who entered into the Limca Book of Records for his debut poetry collection; City Times and Other Poems has been a prolific poet in English and Gujarati. A retired Associate Professor (English), Mr Naik has taught in various college before retiring recently in March 2019. His poetries have been widely read and published. He received the Michel Madhusudan Prize in 1998 for his works. In the words of Mr Naik; “To me, poetry is a fusion of thought and feeling” which was quite evident in his Jeevangeet(Gujarati) as his poetic heart withered after the disastrous earthquake in 2001. His poems have been independent of any particular region which has been quite evident in the translations which include Japanese, Spanish, Italian & Portuguese.

Being an avid translator himself, he has translated his works into Gujarati & English.
There have been never even been a comparable quality when it comes to experience. His works which have been a blend of fine observation and years of experience of teaching the youngsters has helped him to understand the dynamics of modern society. The works of Mr Naik which have deciphered those dynamics have got received wide recognition in the recent times as he has been awarded IndiReader Best Book in 2015, Beverly Hills Book Awards in 2016 and Book Excellence Award in 2017 apart from getting published in various literary journals of international repute.