Every time I
It is night.
The world is just beyond
My hospital window
My only company
And distant window light.
That too goes off…
The poems in this collection reveal some
surprising facts of V P Singh, known primarily as one of India’s roughest politicians,
as he examines the complexities of attachment and love. Interspersed with these
deeply personal reflections are mordent observation of a more prosaic word – of
power and being out of it, the ‘business’ of news, and the plight of the
homeless.
The poems are striking for their honesty, as when
he writes about his illness, and immediate in their impact, at times possessing
a spare beauty that has the same mesmerizing effect as does looking down into a
clear, crystalline pool.
Complementing some of the poems is a series of striking
image drawn by the author.
V.P. Singh was born in Allahabad in 1931, and graduated
from Allahabad and Pune universities. He became an MLA in the Uttar Pradesh
Assembly in 1969, and two years later a member of the Lok Sabha. He has held
ministerial positions at the Center including the defense and finance
portfolios, and was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1980 to 1982. He was
Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990. While V.P. Singh remains active in
politics and social work, his special interests include painting - he has held
several solo shows - and poetry.
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