Have you ever observed a paper lantern gliding across the night sky? I am sure you have, it has become a popular part of our festivals.

We often enjoy releasing the steamed-up paper up in the sky and cheer when it rises. But as it plummets down, we lose interest. Strangely, my attention piques when the lantern starts descending, the fire doesn't completely burn out, some sparks re-ignite as if it's trying hard to stay alive. Its defiance gives me hope, strength and courage to keep going.

Paper Lantern is an accumulation of such poems encapsulating the conflicts of human lives –their experiences and predicaments, their grit to survive and their helplessness to give up, their search for light and their walking into darkness.