Preface
From down the ages man has always wondered about the abstract concepts of truth, justice, love, morality, reason, duty, right and the relationship between them. This wonder has transformed into various questions such as: What is truth? Is there one truth or multiple truths? How to reach truth? What is justice? Whether law and justice are two different concepts or one? If law and justice convey the same concept then why do we have two different words? How one gets transformed into the other? Should we decide cases only in accordance with law or there is some other element that informs the process of justice? What is the relationship between rights and duties? What is freedom? The first four parts of the book explore these theoretical concepts and dimensions through different streams of poetic imagination to arrive at answers to the above questions as poetry opens up a window to perceive the world through images and visions. Each of the twelve poems in the third part independently visualizes the relationship between law and justice. Together these poems symbolise twelve different dimensions of this mysterious relationship which cannot be confined to a single standpoint. In the part on environment I share my concern for different environmental issues. The part on intellectual property is a response to the impressions generated while teaching the subject at the law school. The next part on life contains poems where law informs life in a variety of ways. In the final part on love, I have included poems on marriage, friendship, etc. signifying the dynamics of human relationships. In each part of the book some of the poems are based on metaphors which are used to transpose meanings from multiple domains to the realm of law.
I used to scribble verses off and on, here and there, now and then and share the same with my friends on social media. All along there was absolutely no intention of making a collection of poems, much less publishing the same in the form of a book. When these postings grew, some of my friends suggested that I should bring a collection of my poems. Since many of my poems were reflections on themes related to law, they even said that they could see a book on ‘Law and Poetry’ in its development. As I grappled with this thought, the idea of collecting the poems related to law in the form of a book got fixated in my mind and I began to imagine the book. This is how the book was planned which subsumes within its fold various themes converging on the discipline of law.
The poems in this book were not written in the sequence in which they are presented. The poems were not particularly written to be included in the parts in which they find their place now. The grouping of poems in various parts is an exercise that I attempted only when I sought to organise the poems in a structured manner. However, the poems need not be read in any order; the reader can read the poems starting from anywhere. Therefore, the book begins from wherever the reader wants to read it.
Some poems, spanning through various parts of the book, are based on the stories told by mystics such as Gautam Buddh, Aesop, Lao Tzu, Raamkrishan Paramhans, Kahlil Gibran, Jiddu Krishnamurti and particularly Osho. The poem ‘A Piece of Truth’ adapts and builds on the speech given by Jiddu Krishnamurti, ‘The Hue of the Strange Creature’ on the sermon of Raamkrishan Paramhans, ‘Banish the False’ on the works of Liezi, ‘Spectacles’ on the story told by Aesop and ‘The Golden Goblet’ on the story told by Kahlil Gibran. The poems ‘Journey to the Mountain Top’, ‘Reason and Law’, ‘Reality and Reflections’, ‘White Swans’, ‘The Secret Key’, ‘The Song of Freedom’ and ‘The Other’ are based on stories told by Osho. The themes of some of the poems are derived from ancient texts such as Vedic tales, Greek mythology, Buddhist lore, Sufi anecdotes and Zen parables. Through these poems I have tried to find the legal import of such stories which have been told and retold, refined and aligned time and time again through the history of mankind.
At the fruition of this endeavour, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues for their suggestions which ultimately led to the development of this collection. Grateful I am to my parents for their blessings and good wishes. I acknowledge the contribution of my wife as a critic and it is she who suggested the title of the collection. Institutional thanks are due to my employer, the University of Delhi for providing me a very congenial and creative environment. I utilised my sabbatical at the University of Oxford where I got time to think about and write some of these poems. I am also thankful to my students Pranshu Negi, KV Sreemithun, Deepak Joshi and Satyarth Kuhad for their help including proof reading the manuscript. For cover design and illustrations which appear at the beginning of each part of the book, I am indeed grateful to my old friend Harpreet Singh and his daughter Ichha. Heartfelt thanks are due to Sh. Satish Upadhyay, the proprietor of Satyam Books, for expressing interest in publishing the poems. Music has been composed on some of these poems. I am thankful to my sons for doing the same and indebted to my student Charvi Virmani who along with her friends composed music on the poem ‘Create Protect Innovate’ which was adopted as the Theme Song of Intellectual Property Society of Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi. Last and most importantly I shall be grateful to the readers of the book as they alone can give the final meaning to my verse. Their comments are welcome.
