THE MORNING GLORY-A Book of Poetry

The poems that have inspired me in my poetic journey

I have been a writer of prose, having already published two novels, “Wings of Freedom” and “The Full Circle: A Saga of Unrequited Love”. But since my childhood I have also been an admirer of poetry. I still remember nostalgically the great poets, whose poems had impacted my impressionable mind in school and college. So, a renewed fondness for poetry and re-reading of the old poems inspired me to pen down some poems on topics dear to my heart and based on my life’s journey. And soon I had a collection of forty odd poems. I thought of sharing them with the readers and that’s how my first book of poetry “The Morning Glory” was born. I have described these thoughts in the Preface to the book. I bring you a small garland of poems… joining the multi-hued blooms, in my life’s garden nurtured, during my eventful journey of years, to beget your love and cheers. By way of this blog, I would like to allude to some poems that have fascinated me since my childhood with a brief write up on the poets or poetesses. The first poem is Toru Dutt’s “Our Casuarina Tree” that I read in my school. The opening stanza of the poem captures the nostalgia of the poetess for the beauty of the Casuarina Tree near which she used play in her childhood with other children in the family and her friends. It reads as below: "LIKE a huge Python, winding round and round The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars, Up to its very summit near the stars, A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound No other tree could live. But gallantly The giant wears the scarf, and flowers are hung In crimson clusters all the boughs among, Whereon all day are gathered bird and bee; And oft at nights the garden overflows With one sweet song that seems to have no close, Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose."

The imagery of the Casuarina tree (having its leaves as a horse’s mane and known in India as ‘Jungli Jhao’) by the poetess as a majestic giant, gallantly carrying a python-like creeper and wearing the colourful scarf of crimson flowers is quite enchanting. The charm is further accentuated by the depiction of birds and bees sheltered in the tree and the sweet music that flows in its environs in the night while all are sleeping. Toru Dutt (1856-1877) was a great poetess of India, who with her grooming as a linguist wrote in English and French. Even though she had a short life span, she contributed substantially to literature by her writings in both these languages, some of which were also adaptations from Sanskrit. More in my forthcoming blogs about other poets who inspired me.

THE MORNING GLORY -A Book of Poetry by Ratan Kaul

Book Review of by Ratan Kaul's new novel "The Full Circle"

Excellent Author and Book Review by  pebbleinthestillwaters.com for

Ratan Kaul's new novel" The Full Circle":



"...his latest book, The Full Circle, is out recently and is creating waves all around..."



Ratan Kaul – Arbitrator, Management Consultant, And Author

Good governance and justice for the common man

The present government’s commitment to ‘maximum governance with minimum government’ is well known. This has also been adequately reflected in the ten-point road map set out immediately after the new government was sworn in. It encompassed matters relating to economy; infrastructure; people oriented systems; education, health and water. Included also were transparency in government, building of confidence in bureaucracy, innovative ideas for governance, resolution of inter-ministerial issues, stability in government policies and time bound implementation of policies.

However, while the confidence building in bureaucracy has made the list, an important point missing is the building of confidence in judiciary, which is also deeply linked to the justice for the common man.

So, there is need for a debate about accelerating the measures for restoring the confidence in the judiciary which, from the advent of civilization has been of utmost importance as a part of good governance.  

To elaborate it further, it would be pertinent to have a look at the meaning of governance.  It simply means “the action or manner of governing a state, organization ...” and that would obviously include conducting of public affairs in a manner that would render good justice to the subjects of a state.

It is notable that Naïf Al-Rodham, in his 2009 book Sustainable History and the Dignity of Man: a Philosophy of History and Civilisation Triumph, had included participation, equity, and inclusiveness as well as the rule of law in the eight minimum criteria for ensuring good national governance.

In this connection, the following quotes from our scriptures, Manu Smriti and Kautilya’s Arthashastra are also relevant:

Manu Smriti:

 Chapter VIII, Para 12: “But where justice, wounded by injustice, approaches and the judges do not extract the dart, there (they also) are wounded (by that dart of injustice).”

Chapter VIII, Para 15: “Justice, being violated, destroys; justice, being preserved, preserves: therefore justice must not be violated, lest violated justice destroy us.”

Kautilya’s Arthashastra

Book III, Chapter I:  Concerning Law: "As the duty of a king (and the administrators of justice) consists in protecting his subjects with justice, its observance leads him to heaven.”.

Unfortunately, however, the present Indian legal system, a legacy of the British, is inadequate and needs a lot of fresh thinking and corrective actions by the government. 

One problem which the government has to address is the acute suffering which the common man seeking justice in India faces due to inordinate delays, high costs and limited reach to the judicial forums. This is aggravated by the fact that there is long pendency of cases in the courts. The figures are stunning.  Pending cases in Supreme Court are around 65,970 (as on 1.7.2014); in High Courts around 4.5 million and in district courts over 26 million in 2013.  This massive grid-locking at the judiciary needs to be undone by immediate filling of vacancies, appointment of new judges and adoption of new technologies.

 Another is the restoration of trust in the judiciary, which has been declining of late.  This can be achieved by ensuring the transparency in the judicial appointments, independence of judiciary, and institutional checks and balances. Whether the collegium system, which works in a the exclusive domain of judiciary in a closed environment,  and where one set of judges take decisions about judicial appointments,  should be replaced by other systems with a broader  decision making platform  is a matter that has to be decided by the government expeditiously.  Same is the case about strengthening judiciary as an independent institution free from bureaucratic interference. Otherwise, the democratic fabric of our democracy would continue to be damaged.

There is  another important perspective to these problems, which the new government cannot overlook. By virtue of its constitution, India is a welfare state and as per the directive principles of state policy laid down in Part IV, the State has to promote the welfare of people by securing and procuring effectively a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life (italics mine).

It is imperative that  the  government, judiciary and the entire legal fraternity  rise to the aspirations of the common man and generate a judicial environment where mass public would be always comforted by a feeling that there is a fair and unbiased institution to provide speedy justice to him.

The author Ratan  Kaul can be contacted at: email@ratankaul.in

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WINGS OF FREEDOM--A HISTORICAL ROMANCE SET IN INDIA

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WINGS OF FREEDOM has received excellent reviews from reviewers across the globe-USA,  UK,  AUSTRALIA, SCANDINAVIA and INDIA


Depicting a cross- cultural romance in the backdrop of  intense political and social conflicts in turbulent colonial India with the tapestry of of coronation celebration of King George V in India amidst speculations of sabotage, freedom revolution swirling furiously in the country and the ravages of World war I




Blurbs posted by amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0063C0VT4):

"The story flows with the ease of cleverly descriptive language. " Juanita Kees  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement

"Mr. Kaul should be commmended for writing a fascinating book about the British Raj in pre-independence India. " Ron  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement

"Any readers of historical romance will really love this novel. " A Book Vacation  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement

Thanks to all for  an overwhelming response to the book.