About the Book: Rough Passage to the Bodhi Tree An elegant, highly readable retelling of Prince Siddharthas journey to Enlightenment A prince once gave up everything to attain inner peace, creating the worlds most treasured and well-known coming-of-age story: Siddharthas journey to Enlightenment; his transformation from a mere mortal to an enlightened soul. Join Siddhartha, the brooding dove, as he wins Yashodharas hand in marriage, challenges his father-in-law, celebrates with wine and festivities and then, to everyones surprise and consternation, renounces it all. Seeking the path of the wise, he lays the noble path for us. This is the story of how an ordinary mortal comes to see the light. Aged ninety-two, Shiv K. Kumar injects the wisdom of a lifetime of writing into this immortal tale, fashioning the Buddhas story into, possibly, each of our own. About the Author: Shiv K. Kumar Shiv K. Kumar has donned many hats and lived many lives: poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, translator, academic and critic. He was born in Lahore, where he received his school and college education. He obtained his doctorate in English Literature from the University of Cambridge. Prof. Kumar has published thirteen volumes of poetry, five novels, two collections of short stories and a play. His poems have appeared in several renowned newspapers and journals like the New York Times, Poetry Review (London), Western Humanities Review, among others- and been broadcast on the BBC. In 1978, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (London). He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987 for his collection of poems Trapfalls in the Sky. In 2001, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to literature. Reviews 'Rough Passage to the Bodhi Tree presents a vivid, evocative fable of the Buddha's life, with a strong spiritual element and wisdom to it. Shiv Kumar has made the Buddha's complex philosophies, especially of compassion and good action, deeply acce