Indian diplomat and trade negotiator cum poet selected for prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana award

Amarendra Khatua, a 1981 batch IFS officer who represents a rare combo of poetry, diplomacy and trade negotiation expertise, has been selected for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana award to be presented in Bhubneswar on May 21, the death anniversary of former Indian Prime Minister in whose name the award was instituted.

A joint secretary in the ministry of commerce, Mr Khatua, has played a key role in India’s negotiations in WTO and also in bilateral trade agreements, but the award will be conferred to him for his immense contribution to the Oriya literature. As BoI had reported earlier, the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) only a few days ago approved the proposal for premature repatriation of the IFS officer in the ministry of commerce to his parent cadre. Before joining the ministry of commerce, Mr Khatua was a minister in the Indian Embassy in New York, and then India’s ambassador to oil rich Ivory Coast in which India has major strategic interests.

A product of Delhi University, Mr Khatua became a diplomat but the poet in him always remained prominent as he penned a number of poems and attended various Oriya poetry meetings. His Ek Kavi Ka Khamosh Ho Jana, published by Prabhat Prakashan has been highly appreciated in the poetry circle.

Here is an excerpt of one of his poems titled Reaching Out Into Nothingness

One’s own silence pesters wayward motives

to branch out and emote in a

stabilised world of unfamiliar shadows.

Say it again, the familiar human touch

can be so monotonous that one will

prefer to stay back, at least knowing that

shadows are after all shadows, if

once can get hurt by absent images,

then knowledge have not reached yet

regarding what harms these harmless

shadows can bring upon.

Have failed to read the poet's mind? Don’t worry, so long as diplomats and bureaucrats who remain shadows of their political masters get rare distinctions outside the corridors of power! Congrats poet diplomat.