I Witness

I Witness is Kapil Sibal s first venture into the literary sphere, a refreshing digression from his pragmatic and prosaic world of administration and policy-making. Mostly in rhyme, the poems are contemporary in theme, wickedly amusing, sharp and sparkling like cut glass. On the other hand, revelations of tenderness, longing and a certain tentativeness through romantic yet feisty love poems bare a hitherto hidden facet of a very public man. Emotions ranging from love to terrorism, Twenty20 cricket to global warming and Antarctica are disarming yet perspicacious and strung together with sensitivity. And above all, there is the ability of the poet to laugh at himself. Incisive and insightful, the poems make for a delectable cordon bleu spread to be savoured by the discerning connoisseur.

Myriad-minded, Kapil Sibal is the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, member of the Lok Sabha representing the Indian National Congress, and a lawyer. An L.LM from Harvard Law School, he has had an illustrious legal career, having been elected President of the Supreme Court Bar Association for three terms. He practised law at Wall Street before he returned to India in 1980 to resume his practice. He has made significant contributions in the field of Constitutional Law and is the only lawyer in India who has had the privilege of addressing Parliament in 1994, in the historic impeachment proceedings of a then sitting Judge of the Supreme Court. He led the Indian delegation in 1991 to the Human Rights Commission in Geneva and also served as Chairman of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, set up by the Commission. He has frequently written for newspapers and contributed articles on a range of policy issues.