In this book, Madhu Kailas presents the poet’s engagement with art and creativeiberation through startling imagery and innovative verse. In the title poem, ‘The Boatman of Murshidabad’, the eponymous boatman becomes a metaphor for torpor,oneliness, and the remorseless passing of time; in ‘The Day a Song Dared to Soar’, travellers return and pick new faces for rebirth; in ‘Keys Made of Sunshine’, a child grows up andearns toisten to silence; in ‘Silence of Butterflies’, golden silk strands cascade on to the green forest floor; and in ‘The Forest Sings’, the breeze preserves an arrangement ofeaves and flowers in a secretanguage. Deeply felt and packed with insights into the human condition, The Boatman of Murshidabad is a dazzling collection of poems by an accomplished poet.