This selection of 21 poems by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee highlights the concerns and the convictions, the sensitivity and the determination of the leader of a nation of over a billion people. In addition to clear and forceful verses on the evils of violence, the perils of self-serving attitudes and the supreme importance of love for the nation and our fellow human beings, the collection also contains moving and very personal poems written at moments of crisis. The English translations, by the best-selling author Pavan Varma, retain the simplicity and immediacy of the Hindi originals, which appear alongside the translations in this bilingual edition.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Pavan K Varma
Pavan K. Varma graduated with honours in History from St Stephens College, Delhi, and took a degree in Law from Delhi University. A member of the Indian Foreign Service, he has served in Moscow, in New York at the Indian Mission to the United Nations, and as India’s High Commissioner in Cyprus. He has been Press Secretary to the President of India, Official Spokesman for the Foreign Office, and is at present Director of the Nehru Centre in London. He is the author of Ghalib: The Man, The Times; Krishna: The Playful Divine; Yudhishtar and Draupadi: A Tale of Love, Passions and the Riddles of Existence; The Great Indian Middle Class; The Book of Krishna; and Maximize Your Life (with Renuka Khandekar), all published by Penguin. He has also translated Kaifi Azmi (Selected Poems) and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (21 Poems) into English for Penguin.
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