A layman generally associates poetry with verbose language and melancholy. Alok Amit Abhilash taught the same until he came across the work of Romantic poets like William Wordsworth and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Whether it's Ulysses, which charges spirits or the happy description of daffodils, Alok started seeing poetry in a different light altogether, and saw himself capable of penning down a few as well. Being a lover of prose, making the switch to writing poetry was a valuable experience for Alok who is from Trivandrum and is currently studying at FIITJEE in Hyderabad. "I would get bored in class and out of nowhere, a line would occur to me and I would quickly jot it down," says the 17-year-old. "Other times, I would look at paintings online or watch a scene from a movie and feel inspired," he says. A classic case of art inspires art, we say and he wholeheartedly agrees. 

On the cover: The cover of Alok's first book

That's how Her Name is Imagination was born, a collection of 23 poems infused with positivity and joy. And for the few poems that are devoid of it, one can still detect a glimmer of hope in them. Take the poems Darkness and Light or Time, for example. Though they are deep and of a darker shade, there is an element of positivity in them. In a way, we feel that the poems reflect his personality, and Alok affirms our reasoning. Alok started writing the book in March this year and completed it by May. It has been available in the market since October 2. Not only this, "These poems are in an easy to understand, high school language, which makes for an easy read," says Alok. The book, he says wouldn't have been possible without the support of his cousin Rohit Bachan, parents and close friends, who are his first readers. "Never in a million years I thought I would publish a book, but when I started the process of writing poems, I realised that it came easily to me," recalls and concludes the teenager.     

To get the book, click on amzn.to/2yNyBJe