DEEPA VANJANI developed an interest in poetry early in life and her love for poetry has always remained strong. Born and brought
up in India and firmly rooted in Indian traditions and spirituality, she has a PhD in English Literature. As well as her concern for the human condition, she is particularly involved in environmental issues. Vanjani has contributed as a freelance columnist to the esteemed national English-language dailies, Times of India and Hindustan Times and has written intermittently for Confluence, published from London. An academician by profession, Dr Vanjani presently heads the English department in a college in Indore, Central India, and runs a literary club with the aim of nurturing interest in creative writing. Shifting Sands is the first collection of her poems, some of which have previously been published in literary magazines and online forums.

 The photo below shows her (centre) at the launch of her book, Shifting Sands, in Hong Kong.

SHIFTING SANDS is Dr Deepa Vanjani’s debut poetry collection. She speaks of urbanisation and the loss of natural surroundings, the trap of illusions we humans are caught in, the lack of depth in relationships. But she also speaks of love, nature and the spiritual traces that lead us to the center. For the author herself, many of the poems are life lessons and a humble offering to the Big Buddha of Lantau.

Margaret Clarke, Oxon, UK, has commented as follows.

Dr Deepa Vanjani’s life experiences have led her to seek for an understanding of what it is to be human: it is a search that leads inevitably to meditations on our place in the universe and so to our relationship with the wider nature of which we are a part. From there it is a short step to our relationship with a divine creator.... In all the philosophical reflections and quest for  the spiritual life, she never loses sight of the frail human being. And that is one of the great strengths of her poetry.