WRITING POETRY ON LONGDISTANCE FLIGHTS

There are many who would want to be Kapil Sibal – a successful lawyerturned-politician; a man rich enough to spend a few lakhs on a MF Husain painting; a poet who writes in three languages.

On the face of it, Sibal has had a fulfilled life but he has had his share of problems. In the first Punjabi song that he wrote, Sibal, the poet, accepts separation; it is the lawyer in him who wants to know why: Chadna hai te dass ke chad mainu….

Roughly translated, it means: Leave me if you must, but not without telling me why.

“Relationships,” Sibal said, “are very precious. You can fall in love and also part. But one must soften the blow. Parting may be necessary but the bitterness that comes with it, is not”.

Sibal has had his share of pain and partour ing. He lost his first wife Nina to cancer. He later married Promila.

Kapil met Nina during the rehearsals of the Shakespearean play Julius Caesar when they were in college. “It worked well because I played Caesar and Nina, Caesar’s wife,” said Sibal. He has also acted with Brinda Karat, now a CPI (M) politician, in another college play. “She played a mermaid,” said Sibal.

When he was minister, Kapil went to Antarctica; the first Indian MP to have travelled there. “The living conditions of scientists were appalling. They did not even have proper toilets,” recalled Sibal.

It was technology that helped Sibal discover his poetic side. During long flights which he would have to catch to keep up with his punishing work schedule, he would key in random thoughts on his cell phone. When he chiselled them, he had his first book of poetry, I Witness. Two years ago, he wrote the lyrics of a love song for the Hindi film Shorgul. He has also released an album, Raunaq, with composer AR Rahman.

His writing has a wide range. From an ode to his wife, Promila, to a poem for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The one I wrote keeping Modi in mind goes something like this ‘Khuda ke bande, sambhal ja’,” he said.

Had he more time on his hands, Sibal would have done what he has always wanted to do – direct and act in a film. But his flourishing practice as a lawyer leaves him no time for any pursuit outside court-

‘RELATIONSHIPS ARE VERY PRECIOUS. YOU CAN FALL IN LOVE AND PART. BUT ONE MUST SOFTEN THE BLOW. PARTING MAY BE NECESSARY BUT THE BITTERNESS THAT COMES WITH IT IS NOT’