Preface written by Singapore Author, Linguistic Academic Dr Anitha Devi Pillai:

"Dr. Puva Arumugam presents a collection of poems as a window to her soul. She lays herself bare, stripped away of all worldly possessions and accolades. She stands before us and as an academic, but rather as a woman betrayed, a woman scorned and a woman loved by the elusive phantom. It does not matter who this phantom is as we don’t need to know the term pain in Tamil to recognize it in a Tamil woman’s eyes. The cause of the pain is carefully captured in scenes and conversations within the poems. The pain is never revisited. It is epitomised as a string of words carefully crafted by the maker and enclosed in this collection. In that way, the writer moves beyond each hurtful word, phrase and act. With each poem the writer learns and grows. As the collection ends, we too are hopeful that the ‘Stranger on the tram’ would smile, pause and be the impetus for the next collection of poem filled with love and joy. It is admirable of Puva to write a bold collection of poems. As a multilingual academic, playwright and now a poet, Puva has shown how versatile and prolific she is. I wish her the very best in her future endeavours and look forward to reading her future work.

Anitha Devi Pillai, Lecturer English

National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.