Bashful VP tells a few ‘lies’ to VIP guests

The theme of the evening was set by famous Hindi litterateur Dr Nawar Singh when he described V.P. Singh as ‘‘a poet and fakir’’. He recalled their days together in school and how he saw the poet in VP flitting across but he never let it evolve. ‘‘I wrote poetry then. Today, I don’t, but VP does,’’ he said. Another friend and poet, Kanwar Narain, described Singh as a ‘‘shy, unsure poet,’’ who took 25 years to publish his poems.

Not surprisingly, the pomposity and theatrics was amply provided by Bollywood scriptwriter and poet Javed Akhtar, who dramatised the splendour and radiance of poetry and its importance for the sake of humanity. ‘‘Poetry is not about rhyme, rhythm and meter but about love.’’ But his passion turned ice-cold when in an unexpected manner, he stopped mid-sentence, and asked President Kalam and Deve Gowda, who were confabulating: ‘‘Am I disturbing you?’’ Not satisfied, he asked , ‘‘Am I speaking too loudly?’’ to the utter amazement of all.

V.P. Singh, the poet, soon retrieved the situation when he stood up to speak, with his trademark unvarnished frankness. ‘‘As a politician, one wears an iron mask, but I shall attempt to remove it today,’’ he said with genuine warmth. He said he would attempt to bring together his poetry and the times we live in today. ‘‘I am going to tell you a few lies, but I can be forgiven. After all, even God told us a lie when he said there was a heaven,’’ he said to resounding applause. It was a perfect cue for the audience, who was soon eating out of his hands when he began to recite his verse.