Ten Feet Tall

Ever since Manohar Shetty published his first book of poems in 1985, his work has continued to be defined by clarity and precision. As these selected ten poems from his forthcoming book Living Room illustrate, Shetty, unlike most of his contemporaries, believes in a 'user-friendly' approach to poetry, avoiding any trace of wilful and fashionable obscurity. Even as his trademark animal imagery as in 'Survivor' and 'Praying Mantis' remains much in evidence, his work in recent years has branched off into wry and direct social comment and an engagement with the world around him with a touch of humour. As Arvind Krishna Mehrotra once wrote on his work: 'A spare richness marked his work from the start and, over the decades, this hasn't changed' and his poetry is 'so naturally memorable that you don't need to consciously memorize it'.