Where does a poem exist? What gives it life? Who is its
author? How does it convey meaning? Ask these universal
questions about poetry in South India, and the answers will be illuminat-
ing. A Poem at the Right Moment collects and preserves poems
called cāṭus—that have circulated orally for centuries in South India.
The poems are remarkable for their wit and precisi01m their lyrical
insight into the commonplace, their fascination with sensual experience,
and their exploration of the connection between language and desire.
Taken together the cāṭus offer a penetrating critical vision and an
understanding of the classical traditions of Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit.
Each poem is presented in its contemporary English translation along
with the Indian-language original. An introduction and a concluding
essay explore in detail the stories and texts that comprise the cāṭu
system, Poetry lovers will be taken by this novel and charming form
of literatures and scholars of South Asia will find that the cāṭus enrich
their understanding of the culture.
VELCHERU NARAYANA RAO is Professor of South Asian
Studies at the University ofVVisconsin. Madison.