Chander Parkash Malhotra – Winner of the 21st Century Emily Dickinson Award
“CPTV” – A Flâneur’s Poetry of the City, the Moment, and the Melting of Words into Sky
Some poets find their muse in silence. Others in solitude. But for Chander Parkash Malhotra, poetry walks beside him—through streets, under traffic lights, in passing glances, and fleeting sounds. His collection CPTV is the voice of an urban poet—a chronicler of the now, weaving poems from the raw, ephemeral truths of city life.
Awarded the 21st Century Emily Dickinson Award, CPTV isn’t just a book of poetry—it’s a living journal of moments caught on the move. “Sometimes sounds and sights inspire an immediate poem,” Chander shares. “I write on my phone while walking—for otherwise, the words just melt into the sky.”
Each piece in this collection is born of observation, written with urgency and immediacy. From snippets overheard in alleys to visions glimpsed through bus windows, his poems are stitched together from the fabric of modern life. His voice is lyrical but grounded, poetic but unpretentious. CPTV captures not just places and people, but the feeling of being alive and alert in a world that’s always shifting.
A graduate in Journalism from Punjab University, Chander Parkash Malhotra has been writing for decades. His work has appeared in Indian newspapers, magazines, comics, and more recently, on the digital shelves of Amazon Kindle, where some of his books—including translations into German and Spanish—remain among the top 100 for Indian writers. His blog, chandleur.wordpress.com, reflects this same ethos of thoughtful, immediate reflection—a mind always in conversation with the world.
“I had been writing poems with a ballpen over many days while doing my daily chores,” he says. “Words that just fall like the bough of a tree in a storm.” That natural, unstoppable flow defines his style—real, raw, rhythmic.
CPTV is not poetry for the polished shelf. It is poetry for the street corner, the metro ride, the rustle of leaves in the marketplace. It is the voice of a flâneur—an urban observer moved not just by beauty, but by contradiction, chaos, and connection.
The judges of the Emily Dickinson Award praised Chander for his “spontaneity of voice and ability to capture the poetic heart of everyday moments.” Indeed, CPTV is a reminder that poetry is not always born in stillness—it often arrives in motion, carried by wind and chance.
With this work, Chander Parkash Malhotra reaffirms a powerful truth: that to write is not to wait for inspiration—but to walk with it, every single day.
📖 Book Title: CPTV
🏆 Award: 21st Century Emily Dickinson Award
📍 From: Chandigarh, India
📷 Instagram: @ramoobhaiya
