“Once the storm has passed
Once the dust has settled down
Who remembers the blood-sworn vow?
The cloud serpent
Again, steals the water-womb.
The sacrifices made
At the altar of trade
An uneasy head wears the broken crown” —Anshuman Gaur, 2001 batch IFS
Do you know former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao is also a poet? Or that poet-diplomat Abhay K had published five collections of poetry? “When the mood is on, words, thoughts and images flow with ease”, reads the preface of the book — Snowflakes of Time (Poetry Collection) — written by another former foreign secretary, Kanwal Sibal. As Keats wrote once, if poetry comes “not as naturally as the leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all”.
Here below are some of the poetry collections written by Indian Foreign Service officers, both serving and retired: