In My Mind

About the Book

‘In My Mind’ is a thought-inspiring poetry book in which Randhi Dhillon explores a range of themes. Many of his poems focus on nature as a key theme. His figurative poems such as ‘Aurora Borealis’ – “Strange what winter solstice brings, I see plumes of light, that dance across the northern sky. To be speckle its night and day…” and ‘Creation of Colour’ – “Heaven opens its door but for a moment, then a swirling cloud of colours blends into a spectrum, with vividness beyond imagination….” clearly paint natures force and beauty from depths of imagination. In contrast, his poems on ‘Climate Change’ highlight ecological crises and implore us to examine the damage we continue to cause to the environment. Poems such as ‘Changing Seasons‘ and ‘Death of Antarctica’ enable us to visualise this destruction in depth, “…treading on autumn leaves of yesteryears, not knowing when last summer called, or when winter shed its snow in tears, how the tides shall know, when it’s time to rise or fall, upon shores that change at will.” His emotive poems on themes of love and relationships explore the pain and devastation of losing love and friendship. Poems like ‘It is too Late for Roses’ and ‘Where Have you Gone?’, give a different dimension to his poetry. Some of the poems like ‘Darkness’ and ‘It’s Time to Go,’ portray profound and moving memoir revealing the many layers of pain, anger, guilt and dark thoughts built up after Randhi’s traumatic accident and the aftermath of neurological pain he now suffers from. However, he has found the courage to face his ghosts, take off his protective layers and reconnect with his inner self and intellect by writing poetry as a personal therapy. Those struggling to cope with similar tragedy will empathise with many of Randhi’s poems in ‘In My Mind’.

About the Author

Randhi Dhillon was born in a village on a farm in Punjab (India) in 1951. He moved to Malaysia in 1953 with his parents and studied there, under the British Education System. He became a Queen Scout in 1965. He attended 'English College' in 1968, a leading Secondary School in Malaysia, where he was awarded the top prize in Literature in the Annual College ‘Speech Day presentations’. He completed High School at Cambridege College in 1970, and was their leading student in Literature. He entered poetry competitions run by the local Radio Station in 1967, and was a regular prize winner. Randhir’s studies took him to England in 1970. He completed studies in both Psychiatric and General Nursing Degrees in the UK. He continued to write poetry, and his poems were selected and published in the Anthology, 'The 20th Century Poets’, by Regency Press and ‘The Grand Anthology of Poetry’, by Cathay Books in 1971. He migrated to Australia in 1976 and worked as a Nursing Supervisor in Vaucluse, a Private Hospital.While working, he completed the Graduate Diploma in Health Education at Toorak State College in 1981. 1n 1998, Randhir suffered a severe spinal injury, which left him housebound and in constant neurological pain. He began to write poetry after encouragement from a friend, to provide personal therapy. This friend advised him to publish these new collection of poems. Randhi now regularly reads his poetry in Melbourne venues.