Winter composed a number of poems during his Calcutta life which have been published under the title '' Guest and Host '' . According to the book cover , this group of poems " records the experience of being welcomed into the household of a foreign country " . Many of the poems deal with the commonplace . The majority of the volume comprises two long poems . The first , a sonnet-sequence , " Guest and Host " , from which the collection takes its title ; and the other a poem on the 2001 earthquake in Kutch , " Earthquake at Kutch " . " Guest and Host " is predominantly lyrical in style and diction ; in " Highway 34 " he writes as follows : Sometimes when I walk where trees were tall I am in a prisoner-of-war camp debating poetry with Colonel-General Loblein . Hostilities were over and I was in charge of the German Officers ' ' hostel ' outside Jessore . As part of my duties I re-interpreted the Geneva Convention on canteen rights . " Earthquake at Kutch " is less lyrical : Shadows of trees , branch-shadows , shadows of leaves stray in the dust . Only the trees are standing . Slight shapes chequer a quiet space of ground . In addition to poetry of his own , Winter has published translations of Rabindranath Tagore 's '' Song Offerings '' ( '' Gitanjali '' ) and other works . In collaboration with Devadatta Joardar , he also translated Tagore 's autobiographical '' Atmaparichay '' under the title '' Of Myself ''
2001 earthquake
2001 Gujarat earthquake
Joe Winter