From the Poet PM

Two poems by Narendra Modi

GN Bureau | March 21, 2017


#Prime Minister Modi   #PM Modi   #Narendra Modi Poems   #NaMo   #Verses   #Poems   #Narendra Modi   #World Poetry Day  
PM Narendra Modi
PM Narendra Modi

Like Atal Behari Vajpayee before him, prime minister Narendra Modi is a poet. He has written quite a few poems in Gujarati. On the occasion of World Poetry Day (March 21), Governance Now presents two short poems by the prime minister that reveal another side of his personality. They are excerpted from 'A Journey: Poems by Narendra Modi', translated from Gujarati by Ravi Mantha, and published by Rupa.

 
Verb
 
I am a man of action
Even when I write,
I draw a circle of words
And then I make the circle a square.
In that circle which is now a square
I place words, colourful, smooth as marbles
These words of glass
Are words of truth -- like tears
They form a period at the end of a sentence.
 
Near lie the adjectives, within the confines of a
Lakshman Rekha
They keep the piety of Ram
Adjacent to them the nouns keep playing
A game of tic-tac-toe.
 
I keep the verb in the centre,
And then I draw one endless circle, resolute.
 
 
Liar's Praise
 
If you call water stone
Or stone you say is water
You claim the cloud, a fold in the sky
You call a lotus babul
Makes no difference to any but you.
 
You can call rumour truth
And claim that day is night
You can call spring autumn
Slander the ocean, call it a desert
You can even call life, death.
 
This, your adultery of speech
You are welcome to its treats.
Nature is there to bear silent witness
Calm, detached and composed.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Not just politics, let`s discuss policies too

Why public policy matters Most days, India`s loudest debates stop at the ballot box. We can name every major leader and recall every campaign slogan. Still, far fewer of us can explain why a widow`s pension is delayed or how a government school`s budget is actually approved. That

When algorithms decide and children die

The images have not left me, of dead and wounded children being carried in the arms of the medics and relatives to the ambulances and hospitals. On February 28, at the start of Operation Epic Fury, cruise missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school – officially named a girls’ school, in Minab,

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres

India will be powerful, not aggressive: Bhaiyyaji

India is poised to emerge as a global power but will remain rooted in its civilisational ethos of non-aggression and harmony, former RSS General Secretary Suresh `Bhaiyyaji` Joshi has said.   He was speaking at the launch of “Rashtrabhav,” a book by Ravindra Sathe

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter