Haar nahi maanoonga, raar nahi thanunga, kaal ke kapaal pe likhta mitata hoon, geet naya gaata hoon...
The poet who penned these inspiration lines is no more... But his defiant and thought provoking poetry will live on forever in the hearts and minds of millions of his admirers.
After almost two months of hospitalisation at Delhi’s AIIMS hospital, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has passed away.
India has seen many great political leaders since independence. Some have had more political heft than Vajpayee and others have had a much better score at the hustings. But few have been loved and admired across political lines as much as Vajpayee.
Many political pundits in fact suggest that AB Vajpayee’s stature came first from his inclusive persona and then as a politician who thrice became prime minister between 1996 and 2004.
A voracious reader, a fiery poet and an outstanding orator, Vajpayee was often admired by his peers for his identity beyond the political sphere.
The evocative and charming poet in Vajpayee even inspired Bollywood. From Jagjit Singh’s soulful rendition of Atalji’s Kya Khoya Kya Paaya to Lata Mangeshkar singing Aao man ki gaanthen khole, to Jagjit Singh music album Samvedana, Vajpayee’s poetry continues to live on...
{{/usCountry}}The evocative and charming poet in Vajpayee even inspired Bollywood. From Jagjit Singh’s soulful rendition of Atalji’s Kya Khoya Kya Paaya to Lata Mangeshkar singing Aao man ki gaanthen khole, to Jagjit Singh music album Samvedana, Vajpayee’s poetry continues to live on...
{{/usCountry}}A rare politician, Vajpayee was as much at ease in the role of prime minister planning how to make India a nuclear power as he was attending a cultural evening with poets and Bollywood celebrities...
Like the last of the Mohicans, AB Vajpayee was perhaps the last of the true statesman in Indian politics.