Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose 100th birth anniversary falls on Wednesday, December 25, was a charismatic statesman who navigated the field of politics with finesse. But perhaps what endeared him more to his fellow politicians and the common man was his poetic side that often manifested in his fiery speeches.
The late prime minister’s oratory skills peppered with subtle rhetoric and poetry earned him praise even from the members of the Opposition, whether in Parliament or during his public addresses.
Vajpayee, a BJP stalwart who died at 93 on August 16, 2018 after prolonged illness, had, in fact, underlined the frailty of human body in his poem, Apne Hin Man se Kuch Bolen (Speak from Your Own Mind). One of its stanzas read — ‘Prithvi lakho varsh purani, jeevan ek anant kahani/par tann ki apni seemayen/ yadyapi sau shardo ki vani, itna kafi hai antim dastak par khud darwaza kholen’ (The Earth is millions of years old, life an eternal story/ but the body has its limits/though voices of a hundred winters, it is enough that one must open the door at the last knock).
In one of his speeches he had said, ‘Manushya sau sal jiye ye ashirvad hai, lekjin tann ki seema hai’ (Live for a hundred years is a blessing, but the body has its limits).
Born in Gwalior on December 25, 1924, Vajpayee, a Bharat Ratna recipient, was fluent in English. However, his powerhouse eloquence came to its own when he spoke in Hindi, in or out of Parliament, balancing his trenchant remarks with well-timed wit.
A seasoned politician, he carefully chose his words to drive home the message, and even while sarcastic retained a certain gravitas.
A wordsmith, Vajpayee’s oratory earned him monikers like ‘Shabdon ka Jadugar (Magician with Words)’. In most of his speeches, his love for the country and faith in democracy resonated with his vision for building a stronger India.
In his hard-hitting and inspiring May 27, 1996 speech in Parliament ahead of the trust vote for his 13-day minority government, which ultimately collapsed, Vajpayee had famously remarked, “Satta ka toh khel chalega, sarkaren ayyengi, jayengi; partiyan banegi, bigadegi; magar ye desh rahna chahiye, is desh ka loktantra amar rahna chahiye (The game of power will go on. Governments will come and go. Parties will appear and disappear. But this country should remain, this country’s democracy should remain eternally).”
A prolific poet, he penned many works, including Kaidi Kavirai Ki Kundalian (a collection of poems written in jail during Emergency); and Amar Aag Hain and Meri Ekyavan Kavitayen, both collections of poems.
He always maintained that politics did not afford him time for his poetry. At a public event, Vajpayee had once remarked, “Lekin rajniti ke registan me ye kavita ki dhara sukh gayi (the stream of poetry ran dry in the desert of politics).” But, even if he couldn’t find time to write new poems, he compensated for that by ensuring that his poetry skills left an imprint in the political arena.
In a public address, he had spoken in his charismatic style about the idea of freedom and hit out at those forces who were threatening it — “Ise mitane wale ki saajish karne walon se kah do ki chingari ka khel bura hota hain. Auron ke ghar aag lagane ka jo sapna, wo apne hin ghar mey sada khara hota hain. (Tell those conspiring to destroy it that playing with fire is dangerous. Those who think of burning someone else’s house, that would often happen to their own house).”
Vajpayee, who mostly wore dhoti-kurta and bandi, wrote poetry in his spare time, and was a connoisseur of good food, but was unabashedly honest about not finding the conducive environment while being in active politics.
“Kavita vatavran chahta hai, kavita ekagrata chahti hai kavita atmaabhivyakti ka naam hai, aur wo atmaabhivyakti shor-sharabe mey nahin ho sakti. (Poetry needs environment, concentration, poetry means self-expression, and self-expression cannot take place in noise),” he had said.
Known equally for his humour, Vajpayee had once remarked he had wanted to leave politics but politics wouldn’t leave him (“Main rajniti chodna chata hun par rajnti mujhe nahin chhodti”).
“But, since I have entered politics, and got stuck in it, my desire was and still is that I leave it without a blemish, and, after my death, people say that he was a good man, who endeavoured to make his country and the world a better place,” he had said.
And, perhaps that is how Vajpayee would be remembered.
A modest Vajpayee had also once said that his contribution in the field of poetry was “almost nil.”
“If I had not entered politics, I would have recited and listened to poetry, attended mushairas and kavi sammelans; would have been in the mood to write and the poet’s sentiments would have kept expressing,” he had said.
