Dheer Arjun
Rehaan Khan’s new collection of poems, The Festivity of Dilemma, has just appeared in the public domain from the United States. He was already in the limelight since the publication of Ujyaloka Maliharu, a joint collection in Nepali what was highly ac claimed by Nepali readership. With the emergence of Dilemma in English, he is coming into the notice of the international readers, especially in the Anglo-phonic world.
The collection accommodates thirty-seven poems — some very short, limited to a few lines, and others of average length. Notwithstanding their forms, the poems are poignant in thought and deep in their meditative delivery of subject.
Khan writes like a quiet observer of the soul, turning the heavy whispers of sadness into beautiful, rhythmic grace. In The Festivity of Dilemma, he acts as a gentle guide for anyone who has ever felt the weight of the world, helping them find peace at moments when the most difficult emotions pound their world.
This collection pays a deeply-moving look at the human spirit, where every poem feels like a soft conversation held in the stillness of the night. Khan does not see the end of life as a tragedy; instead, he views it as a moment of dignity. In “I am Going on Leave Tomorrow,” he beautifully describes death not as a goodbye, but as a well-deserved rest. This theme of finding comfort continues in “I shall perhaps be on the winning end tomorrow,” where funeral is seen as victory—a time when a tired traveler finally receives the love and flowers he or she deserves all along.
The beauty of Khan’s work lies in how he finds light in dark places. In the poem “Interval,” he reminds us that a crowded room can sometimes be lonelier than a quiet grave. Meanwhile, his nature imagery in “Even at the touch of the slightest breeze” shows us the reality of emotional exhaustion, where even a small drizzle feels like heavy tears. Ultimately, Khan’s poetry is a warm, empathetic embrace for the “almost broken,” proving that there is a strange, festive beauty even in our deepest dilemmas. Sewn with an emotional thread of love, nostalgia, confusion and irresolution, the dilemma he offers to celebrate is everyone’s dilemma, especially of those who are in transition of age, interest, and ultimate decision. It also resonates with the lives of those who are away from their original world, and are yet to find a permanent resort elsewhere. This dramatization of an emotional dilemma shall likely touch every reader on its own merit.
Book: The Festivity of Dilemma (poems)
Author: Rehaan Khan
Publisher: Amazon.com
Year of Publicaiton: 2025
