The 937-page soft cover edition in two volumes has given voice to many like Sourya who were plain reticent or too private about their rhythm of rhymes. The book, an initiative of Amit Dahiyabadshah, founder of the poetry society Delhi Poetree, was released last week. The title comprises works of homemakers and writers, actors and journalists, students and government officials.

The effort, Dahiyabadshah says, started two years ago. “Poetry was believed to be an intensively private affair. It took us months to convince amateur poets to share their works.”

For Shashank, penning the verses came from accompanying brother Sourya to various poetry-reading sessions. “It is just a hobby for me,” he says. “I write about day-to-day situations and things that affect me.” The brothers are perhaps the youngest poets to be featured in the book and also came out with a book on poems last year — ‘Poetree’.

But the new volume, Sourya says, “is a better and bigger book, and exposes us to the works of veterans like Keki N Daruwalla and K Sachidanandan. We can grasp ideas by looking at works of other poets.” The book features five or six poems from each poet.

Then there’s Dr Payal Talreja, who wrote poetry in college and was surrounded by books in childhood. But all that went straight out the window when she took up medicine. But feeling of being “incomplete” without writing forced her to quit the job. “Now I write poems for six or seven hours a day — it is a part of me.”

Her poems focus on feminist issues; they are a comment on the society at large. The book comprises 14 of her works. She plans to continue writing for the time being.

Explaining the economics of bringing out the title, Dahiyabadshah says each poet had to deposit Rs 400 per page for publishing; they get to buy the book at cost price —Rs 300. The book is sold in the market for Rs 495. Each poet makes a profit of Rs 195 for every copy sold, he says. “This way they can sustain their creative pursuits.”

Keki Daruwalla, the in the anthology and recipient of Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Asia in 1987, says: “I am hopeful that English poetry in Delhi is alleviated through this book. The interesting aspect about this book is that it supports various languages, not just English.”