A new translation of "Meghadutam" brings to life Kalidasa's celebrated poem in vivid detail.
"The Cloud Message" is translated from the original Sanskrit work by translator-musician Srinivas Reddy and published by Penguin Books.
According to Reddy, "Meghadutam" to this day is not viewed as a poem to be savoured in translation; rather, it remains a text to be parsed, deconstructed and analysed.
"Filled with lush imagery - from the magnificence of the bountiful earth to the glory of the celestial gods, from the hypnotic lilt of birdsong to the passionate lovemaking of courtesans - 'The Cloud Message' is as moving and resonant today as it was centuries ago," the publishers say.
As punishment for failing in his duty, an unnamed yaksha is cursed by the god Kubera to endure a hard year in exile.
Thus separated from his beloved wife, he longs to send her word of his undying love and the pain he suffers over their parting. Unable to do so himself, the lovelorn yaksha implores a passing cloud to act as his messenger.
And so entrusted with this impassioned message, the cloud must travel a vast distance to the city of Alaka in the Himalayas, where the yaksha's wife waits, consumed by thoughts of her beloved.
"The cloud is the one who truly lives the long journey from Ramagiri in the south to Alaka in the Himalayas, all along imbibing the beauty and wonder of the landscape, the people, the flora and the fauna.
"The cloud drinks it all in and imbues the yaksha's message with his own deep emotions and experiences," Reddy says.
Kalidasa, perhaps the most extraordinary of India's classical poets, composed seven major works: three plays, two epic poems and two lyric poems.
According to legend, he lived at the end of the fourth century, and was one the 'nine jewels' in the court of the Gupta king Chandragupta II.
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