Diamond in my Palm – a novel by Sanjay Dharwadker, will be released in NOVEMBER 2019.
Inspiration for the title of the novel comes from a poem.
The poem itself is titled “Speaking of Places” and written by R. Parthasarathy, also known as Rajagopal Parthasarathy (born 1934) an Indian poet, translator, critic, and editor.
I quote an excerpt of the poem that inspired me:
I cannot stop thinking of Srirangam:
I roll the name on the tongue
for comfort. I know, one day
I shall arrive there.
Her towers, a constellation
of beryl, pearl and coral.
Didn’t the Romans long ago travel this way?
I step into the waters of the Kaveri,
Turn its diamond in my palm.
Little did I know that these fifty-four words would spawn a novel of one hundred and fifty-four thousand words one day!
R. Parthasarathy’s works of poetry in English include “Poetry from Leeds” in 1968, and “Rough Passage” brought out by Oxford University Press in 1977.
He also translated Tamil poetry into English, and this includes:
Cilappatikaram of Ilanko Atikal (The Tale of an Anklet): An Epic of South India. (Translator – R. Parthasarathy). New York City: Columbia University Press, USA 1993.
Erotic Poems from the Sanskrit: An Anthology. (Translator – R. Parthasarathy). New York City: Columbia University Press, USA November 2017.
Sanjay Dharwadker 
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