Year of the Dog
A poetry collection
The collection exists at a point of updrift after days without future past. It starts with winter, making snowmen out of the falling cold; strolls in parks looking for calm of spring; turns towards memories of mountains in the summer heat; looks for relief like a stray after the rains; wonders about the time when September comes along before time; and calls on old friends before the years end like one calls on old gods.
Kindle edition available now.
Paperback available in Us, Uk, Canada, Europe, Australia, India and Japan on their respective Amazon stores.
Early reviews of Year of the Dog
Reading this felt like digging through sediment pressed down by years – each layer another season I once called home.
Grief never speaks its name here; it borrows the shape of a dog searching for sleep, of city lights begging to be remembered “so full of life”.
I keep thinking of the line where Joy moves house, quietly, “from your chest into loved ones’ tender hands” – how growing up means learning to hold happiness by watching someone else carry it.
And still, stubbornly, it insists. Happiness is a decision, after all.
So I close the book, not sad, exactly – just keeping watch, hoping the people who were our summers are somewhere, glowing, thinking of us the same way.
– Kassy (ano_kato_teleia)
So with all my honesty, I would say that your poems are therapeutic. They romanticise and highlight how certain things have such a huge impact on our lives and memories and how even remembering those brings a sweet smile and comfort to us. The everyday things that may seem trivial to many at a moment hold so much significance and become cherished memories for us to remember at a later time.
My absolute favourite of all time remains “Chocolate”, for one main reason: it reminded me of my time with my nanaji, who used to send us these Amul chocolates through parcel from a distant place, and the joy of seeing them was priceless. I can have a billion bucks, and I would give it up in a heartbeat to relive that memory again.
Reading your poems was very nostalgic and opened a box of beautiful memories.
– Richa (books_through_my_perspective)
This poetry collection finds hope in small, ordinary things. Rohtash writes about seasons and months the way we remember them, as places we once called home.
“Chocolate” and “Days of Play” stayed with me most. They capture childhood so warmly that you can almost taste it. “News of the World” is a quiet reminder that small kindnesses rarely make the headlines, and the title poem observes strays with a calm that feels like wisdom.
It isn’t all sweetness. There’s longing and loss underneath, which makes the comfort feel earned. Reading it felt like sitting with an old friend and remembering together.
A gentle, nostalgic read for anyone who treasures small moments.
