Atal Bihari Vajpayee Birthday Special: Atal Ji’s Last Poem from Hospital Bed & Other Favourite Poems

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, A Late Former Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader was awarded the Bharat Ratna by the then President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015.

In 2014, when BJP came into power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that 25^th December would be known as Good Governance Day. However, the country lost one of the great leaders on 16 August 2018. He died in AIIMS, Delhi after prolonged illness.

In the winter of 1988, a critically ailing Atal was admitted to New York hospital. From there he wrote a letter and a poem to the editor of Dharmyug, a popular Hindi Magazine of its time that has since ceased publication.

Atal Ji wrote, “Kavya ki kasauti par mera prayas bhale hi khara na utre, kintu yeh meri zindagi ka dastavez hai.” It roughly translated into English as, “My effort may not stand up to the benchmark of poetry but it is my life’s document.”

The poem where Atal Ji wrote of his face-off with death, was published with the headline, Zindagi ka dastavez, in the magazine Dec 8-14, 1988 issue and became much discussed.

Other Famous Poems by Atal Ji:

1. Geet naya gaata hoon:

Geet naya gaata hoon
toote huye taaro se phate baasanti swar
pathar ki chaati main ug aaya nav ankur
zhare sab piley paat koyal ki kuhuk raat
prachi main arunim ki rekh dekh pata hoon
geet naya gaata hoon
Toote hue sapnon ki kaun sune siski,
antar ki cheer vyatha palakon par thithki
haar nahi maanoonga,
raar nahi thanunga
kaal ke kapaal pe likhta mitata hoon,
geet naya gaata hoon.

2. Aao phir se diya jalaaen:

Bhari dupahari mein andhiyara
Sooraj parachhai se hara
Antaratan ka neh nichode
Bujhi hui baati sulagaaen,
Aao fir se diya jalaen.

3. Mere Prabhu:

Mujhe itni oonchaai kabhi mat dena,
Gairon ko gale na lagaa sakoon,
itani rukhaai kabhi mat dena