By Srinidhi Murthy

Poetry is one of the oldest forms of literature and has a rich oral and written history. Indian poetry, in particular, can be dated back to the Vedic times with Sanskrit poems crafted around more than 3000 years ago. Here is the list of must-read poetry books written by talented poets who marked their unique influences on Indian poetry in modern times.

Madhushala – Harivansh Rai Bachchan (1935)

Madhushala (The House of Wine) is a famous Hindi poetry book that has 135 quatrains (i.e. a poem consisting of four lines), written by poet and writer Harivansh Rai Bachchan. The publication of this book in 1935, gave instant fame to the poet. One of the unique features of this poetry collection is that the poet ends every quatrain with the word Madhushala. In this book, Harivansh Rai Bachchan tries to explain the complexities of life with the four instruments i.e. Madhu (wine), Saaki (server), Pyaala (cup) and Madhushala. With some of his metaphorical lines, the poet also explains that the reader is the wine and he (the poet) is the cup. By filling the cup, the reader will become an alcoholic. Hence, the author concludes with this metaphor that Madhushala is incomplete without both the poet and reader. Due to its popularity, the original Hindi version has......