We've extraordinary foreign secretaries and ambassadors. Unlike the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Police Service, our Foreign Service is relatively small and, despite several sharp differences of temperament among its members, it is somewhat akin to a priesthood with the ministry resembling an abbey. “A monastery?” readers may exclaim. “Are you telling me that diplomats are monks?”

Here are some famous diplomats, who are more known as a poet or writer:


  • Abhay K: Abhay K. is an Indian poet-diplomat and India's 21st Ambassador to Madagascar and Ambassador to Comoros. He has served in different diplomatic capacities earlier in Russia, Nepal and Brazil. His published collections of poetry include The Seduction of Delhi, The Eight-Eyed Lord of Kathmandu, The Prophecy of Brasilia, The Alphabets of Latin America among others, while his edited books are CAPITALS, 100 Great Indian Poems, 100 More Great Indian Poems, New Brazilian Poems, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems,The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems among others. He recorded his poems at the Library of Congress. His writings cover poetry, art, memoir, global democracy and digital diplomacy. His Earth Anthem has been translated into over 50 languages and was played at the United Nations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Earth Day. He also wrote an anthem for SAARC spurring search for an official SAARC Anthem. He wrote a 'Moon Anthem' to celebrate the success of India's Moon Mission Chandrayaan-2. He has penned a 'Mars Anthem' to inspire the younger generation to explore our neighbouring red planet., He received the SAARC Literary Award for his contribution to contemporary South Asian Poetry and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2013. He has also been honoured with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award in 2014. His The Seduction of Delhi was shortlisted for Muse India-Satish Verma Young Writer Award 2015.

Pashupatinath


With my consort Parvati

I galloped

on the banks of Bagmati

as a golden deer every dawn


Now I live behind silver doors

in a tiered pagoda

of wood and copper

topped with gold gajur


People worship me

as the lord of beasts and gods

I am the great gratifier of wishes

the saviour of this sacred land.


                    *

Lord of animals, men and gods

do you still gallop with Parvati

as golden deer

along the banks of Bagmati


or have you returned to Mount Gaurishankar

seeing what have we done to Bagmati

Do you still offer your blessings

to whoever seeks you out


Have you returned to Kailash Mansarovar?

or has it melted away

Tell us lord, have you left the Earth

for the other worlds ? 


  • Nirupama Rao: Nirupama Menon Rao is a retired 1973 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, who served as India's Foreign Secretary from 2009 to 2011, as well as being India's Ambassador to the United States, China and Sri Lanka during her career. In July 2009, she became the second woman (after Chokila Iyer) to hold the post of India's Foreign Secretary, the head of the Indian Foreign Service. In her career she served in several capacities including, Minister of Press, Information and Culture in Washington DC, Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow, stints in the MEA as Joint Secretary, East Asia and External Publicity, the latter position making her the first woman spokesperson of the MEA, Chief of Personnel, Ambassador to Peru and China, and High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.

he light here is special.

Drenched by blood and frost

So much has happened here.

Bronze horseman, burning homes,

Nine hundred days written into symphonies of emptied tear ducts.

...

I think of how it must have been

To beg for black bread on the banks of the slow,

straining river.


  • Amarendra Dhatua: He is multi-talented. He is a proud Indian and a proud Odia. He is a leading diplomat of the country and an expert in Foreign Policy and Trade. ... Ambassador Amarendra Khatua shares his lived experience, views on foreign policy and strongly argues why Odisha government should have a Pravasi Odia Policy.


REACHING OUT INTO NOTHINGNESS

Say it again, the simple words  

won't denote meaning to such banal  

meaninglessness, as we know,  

the precious waiting is a dignified  

entity, the backside of your temperamental  

visiting card.  


Bones have this funny habit,they have to  

shed flesh, water down the blood and  

have to embrace dust to become dust.  

Inevitably our knowledge regarding  

despair does never flower into  

protected relationship and, it is really funny, that  

relationship is like fossilized bone,  

once intact, now seemingly meaningless dust  

even nostrils failing to acknowledge.  


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.  


  • Dyaneshwar Mulay: Dnyaneshwar Mulay, an Indian Career Diplomat who superannuated after 35 years of service ,was appointed by the President of India as the Member , National Human Rights Commission in April 2019. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1983 and has since served in several capacities, including the Consul General of India, New York, and the High Commissioner of India, Male, Maldives. He is a successful writer and has written over 15 books, which have been translated in Arabic, Dhivehi, Urdu, Kannada and Hindi. His magnum-opus – Maati, Pankh ani Akash, written in Marathi, has received immense popularity and has also been prescribed in the Arts curriculum at the North Maharasthra University, Jalgaon (Maharashtra). He has inspired a number of socio-educational projects including Balodyan, an orphanage in his native village, and the Dnyaneshwar Mulay Education Society in Pune which seeks to introduce innovative concepts like Global Education. ‘Shanti Ki Afwayen’ – a collection of Hindi poems


  • Gauri Shankar Gupta: Born in small town of AJITGARH in India, Dr. Gauri Shankar Gupta did well in his academic career and was awarded several gold medals and scholarships. After completion of Masters in Management, Gupta joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1981. Following his successful research work on 'Sustainable Development and Relevance of Ancient Wisdom', Gupta has been awarded PhD with Suma cum Laude by the Szechenyi Istvan University, Hungary in January 2020. As part of his diplomatic assignments, Gupta served as India's ambassador to Mongolia, Hungary and Bosnia & Herzegovina and as High Commissioner of India to Trinidad and Tobago, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada and Montserrat. He also served and India's Deputy Permanent Representative to UNESCO. He also served India's diplomat and Deputy Chief of Mission in Belgium, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Mexico and the Philippines. Gupta is a writer. His first book - Mongolia: The Land of Blue Skies, was published in 2007. His next two books - Droplets, and Chand Lamhe – were collection of his English and Hindi poetry respectively. His fourth book Unraveling Mysteries of Life – Modern Science and Ancient Wisdom was published in 2012. The book has received excellent reviews around the world and has been translated and published in Hungarian, Czech, Romanian, Hindi, Spanish and Bhasha Indonesia. His next book titled Science and Spirituality, published in 2017 is a collection of his published articles. His last book titled Limits of Consumption – Environmental Degradation and Ancient Wisdom was published in September 2018.

Mother India

A land,

Ancient and old,

With thousands of legends in fold;

A cradle of cultures and civilizations,

And the mother of spiritual reflections.


A land,

Where Rama once walked,

And Krishna revealed his thoughts;

Where Vedas were unveiled,

To let the truth prevail.


A land,

That gave birth to human speech,

Where love and tolerance are preached;

The idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam was born,

And hatred, evil and violence were scorned.


A land,

That gave birth to zero

And many spiritual heroes;

Where Mahatma Gandhi walked,

And Buddha gave enlightened talks.


A land,

Crowned by the highest mountains,

Washed by holy rivers and fountains;

Surrounded by oceans and forests

And adorned by lakes and deserts.


A land,

Of the Hindus and Muslims,

Christians and Jews;

Where Sikhs adorn their turbans,

And Jains walk bare feet and unburdened.


A land,

Of ragas and classical dances,

Meditation and yogic advances;

Supported by Bollywood songs,

And a variety of mystic monks.


A land,

Of palaces, forts and mansions,

Hovels, slums and deprivations;

Of piety, charm and glamour,

Yet always with spiritual flavour.


A land,

That appears anarchic and chaotic

Still very charming and democratic;

Some find it amazing

Others mesmerizing.

  • Aftab Seth: Aftab Seth is a retired Indian diplomat who served as ambassador of India to Greece, Vietnam and Japan. He is the brother of British-Indian actor Roshan Seth. [Pillars of a Landscape: Poems]
  • Manju Seth: Manju Seth, a career diplomat, retired from the Indian Foreign Service in 2014. A former Ambassador and Consul General of India, her last assignment was as Ambassador of India to Madagascar and Comoros.
  • Pavan K Varma: Pavan K. Varma is a former Indian Foreign Service officer and was an adviser to the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, with cabinet rank. With effect from June, 2014 he was a Member of Parliament until July 2016. He translated many poetry books into english. Like - Selected Poems - Gulzar | Suspected Poems - Gulzar, Atal Ji's Poetry.
  • Subhakanta Behera: Subhakanta Behera, who holds a doctorate from England's prestigious Oxford University. Oriya story and poetry collections
  • Navdeep Singh Suri: Navdeep Suri (born 1959) is a retired Indian diplomat and has recently completed a distinguished 36 years in the Indian Foreign Service, having served in India's diplomatic missions in Cairo, Damascus, Washington, Dar es Salaam and London and as India's Consul General in Johannesburg. He has also headed the West Africa and Public Diplomacy departments at the Ministry of External Affairs. He was India's High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to Egypt and UAE. In a rare gesture, the President of UAE conferred on him the Order of Zayed II, the country's second-highest civilian award. His innovative use of social media in public diplomacy in 2010 also received extensive recognition and two prestigious awards. Navdeep has learnt Arabic and French, has a master's degree in Economics and has written on India's Africa policy, on Public Diplomacy and on the IT outsourcing industry. His English translations of his grandfather Nanak Singh's classic Punjabi novels have been published by Penguin as ‘The Watchmaker’ and by Harper Collins as ‘A Life Incomplete’ and ‘Khooni Vaisakhi’. Navdeep is accompanied by his wife Mani who has a degree in Economics and is now an accomplished graphic designer and potter. They have two daughters, a journalist and an avid environmentalist.

Five-thirty sharp the clock had struck

Thousands gathered in the Bagh, my friends.

Leaders came to lament the nation’s woes

Taking turns to speak out loud, my friends.

Voiced grievance, hardship, anger, sorrow

Saying, no one listens to us, my friends.

What can we do, what options left?

Can’t see any ray of light, my friends.

Those words forlorn, they barely voiced

Came soldiers thundering down, my friends.

At Dyer’s command, those Gurkha troops

Gathered in a formation tight, my friends.

Under the tyrant’s orders, they opened fire

Straight into innocent hearts, my friends.

And fire and fire and fire they did

Some thousands of bullets were shot, my friends.

Like searing hail they felled our youth

A tempest not seen before, my friends.

Riddled chests and bodies slid to the ground

Each one a target large, my friends.

Haunting cries for help did rend the sky

Smoke rose from smouldering guns, my friends.

Just a sip of water was all they sought

Valiant youth lay dying in the dust, my friends.