Civil Lines

These civil servants do poetic justice to their high-powered profession.

Written by Parul

May 2, 2011 03:49 AM IST

4 min read

We can see each other,but to see ourselves,we need a mirror,the inner mirror that guides you,helps you find and interact with yourself. My poems are what my eyes have seen and what the mirror has shown me, reflects Dheera Khandelwal on her new anthology of Hindi poems titled Mukhar Maun released this Wednesday at Haryana Raj Bhavan. Its an eclectic collection of poems,haikus and mukhriyan (riddles); one that the senior IAS officer of the Haryana cadre describes as a flow of thoughts,inspired by life and its experiences. Khandelwal,Director General and Special Secretary,Higher Education,Haryana joins a motley group of other officers,interestingly all from the Haryana Cadre,who choose to unleash their creative power in verse. Life on a huge canvas,smiles the poets,is what they see as part of their jobs,experiences that are then translated to poetry.

Sensitive to what others feel,Khandelwal says she has a sense of responsibility about her actions and their impact on others,something thats integral to the spirit of her profession. The poems have been sourced from her diaries that shes been keeping for the last 20 years and the poet chooses to say a lot in few words,be it complexity of relationships,her pain of losing her mother,love,the materialistic world where emotions have taken a backseat. Simple,evocative language is the carrier of these feelings,yet to be simple and meaningful takes a lot of effort,time and experience,you need to be attached to your roots and have both bhava and rasa, being a civil servant,agrees Khandelwal,has exposed her to many intricacies of life and a variety of people,this coupled with her sensitivity and sense of duty,has helped her put her feelings in verse. Now shes ready to face the world and is open to praise and criticism. I wrote what I felt,and it took the shape of a poem. Writing poetry rejuvenates me, she says.

Lending his deep voice to Khandelwals poetry was Vijay Vardhan,another senior bureaucrat in the cadre,who recently penned Haikus from the heart in Beyond the Great Beyond. The poet bares his soul in the book of 55 Haikus to open your heart. Its my first book on poetry and yes,I was nervous, smiles Vardhan,who has earlier authored a coffee table book Krishna The Enlightened One. The Haikus,he adds came naturally and are a therapeutic outpouring. Travelling all over the country on election duty for as long as five years,with ample time to reflect,the Haikus,says Vardhan were written with passion and experiences he gained while interacting closely with people from all walks of life. Love,romance,agony,ecstasy,time,Vardhan expresses his feelings with simplicity,with the words flowing with intensity. Symbolic visuals accompany each Haiku. The attempt was to make the book both readable and visually interesting, he nods.

Sumita Misra,Chief Electoral Officer and Commissioner,Secretary to the Government of Haryana describes her first book of poetry,A Life of Light,as a moment of truth. Released last week,the 80 poems span 25 years. Misra clarifies that the poems are not a chronicle or story of her life,but an expression of human emotions she has felt over time. The poems are a personal composition of the inherently universal and signposts of my journey. The chance to see a range of human sensibilities and sensitivities as part of this profession,agrees Misra is definitely a catalyst for her poems. We see the real issues,closely and get to understand the suffering that exists in the country. In this urban set-up,we can sometimes be oblivious to human issues,especially in rural areas,and these become a starting point of deep thoughts. Extensive travel,says Misra,adds to the repertoire of experiences. A creative person,she reflects,will try new things in both their life and work,irrespective of the profession. I was writing poetry before I joined the Services,what you choose is prose,what demands to be written is poetry, feels Misra.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags: