Kapil Sibal and Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi at the launch of the Union minister’s compilation of poems at Raj Bhavan; (below) the launch of Janani: Mothers, Daughters, Motherhood at Starmark, Lord Sinha Road. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Kapil Sibal, the poet, was in town for the Calcutta promotions of his book I Witness: Partial Observations. The Union minister of science and technology loves reciting his poetry, which he punches out on his switched-off cellphone whenever he flies. And he’s a frequent flier.

Is his poetry a refuge, then, from both science and technology? “There are these long hours on air when I put my cellphone on off-mode and write poetry. These are random thoughts, musings that I like to put in rhythm and rhyme.”

While Sibal is by no means a first-time author, having written on law and the Constitution before, he is definitely a first-time poet. “I would compose these poems and show them to my family — they would encourage me to publish them. But I knew they were not being just kind because they warned me that some of them might upset a few people. Then I read them out to a group of friends, who advised me to get them in print,” said Sibal.

His publisher Pramod Kapoor of Roli Books probably had more faith in his potential when he decided to publish his poems. “Kapil comes from the constituency of Mirza Ghalib,” he said and warned the audience that “he composes verse even while he reads them out”.

Launched at Raj Bhavan by Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, on Friday, parts of I Witness were read out at the launch and also at Oxford Bookstore in the afternoon. Sibal’s favourite among them was one on Nano that he read on both occasions:

“Nano tubes
in nano pores
Nano thoughts
of nano brains
A plethora of
nano claims
Nano meters,
nano miles,
Nano cars
in nano style
Nano solutions
here to stay,
living our lives,
the nano way.”

Mom’s the word

Friday evening at Starmark was for mothers, by mothers and of mothers. It was the launch of Janani: Mothers, Daughters, Motherhood, a compilation of essays edited by Rinki Bhattacharya .

As panelist Mandira Sen said: “What is a woman outside motherhood in a conservative society like ours?” She reminded the audience of an old joke, according to which all sons think their mothers are virgins and all mothers think their sons are Jesus Christ.

Janani defines motherhood unconventionally — it’s is not just about women who have given birth, but also about those who have adopted their children, who chose not to conceive and those who have gone through abortion. The stories are autobiographical accounts by women who are authors, artists and academicians. Maitreyee Chatterjee’s My Mother, My Daughter is rather poignant.

Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s piece, along with Kamala Das’s short tale (she became a mother at 16), on being mothers and daughters are inspiring.

Long live mothers and daughters. Let the words flow!