Read Mani Shankar Aiyar's poem dedicated to his wife Suneet

New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar may be stubborn on his principles but there is another side to his persona which is soft and understanding. Mani loves to write poems and the one poem that he dedicated to his wife Suneet sums up the excitement of his life when he was 18. Here goes the poem: EIGHTEENBYMANI SHANKAR AIYAR Eighteen was the discovery of Liberty.And, alas, of Responsibility. Liberty from school schedulesAnd Prefects and Monitors and all things grim,And NEVER having to go on to a sports field again.Responsibility - to oneselfAnd one's hopelessly uncertain future. Liberty to cut classesAnd head out to stir a doleful cup of coffeeWhile summoning up the courageTo greet the vaguely-met girl at the next table.Eighteen was when she brightly called out, “Hi, Mani”And the guy behind muttered, “Killer, yaar”! Eighteen was crashing the TeenAge Christmas partyAt the GymkhanaThrough a rear toilet door Obligingly unlocked by a friend. Eighteen was the horror of learning that Nutan was marrying someone else.Eighteen was discovering that I too could have a puffTo match Dev Anand's. Eighteen was losing the tickets on the trainBoth going home and coming back.Eighteen was spending one night in the jungles of DandakaranayaAnd writing pompously on the Gonds and their Ghotuls. Eighteen was discovering My Fair LadyAnd Eliot and Durrel and Koestler.And The Grapes of Wrath. Eighteen was making friends who would last a lifetimeWhile arguing with them through the night The difference between “culture” and “civilization”Till Dawn broke over the Dreaming Spires. Eighteen was discovering Marx and the Communist Manifesto.Eighteen was “Workers of the World, UNITE,You have nothing to lose but your chains,You have a World to gain”! Eighteen was being ready “with Fate to conspireTo grasp this sorry scheme of things entire,Would we not shatter it to bitsAnd then re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire?” Eighteen was walking around Allnutt CourtPracticing waving to the masses.Until some goon screamed,“Bloody, you think we are the masses”! Eighteen was entering Parliament House the first timeAnd watching Dange slam NehruFor dismissing Kerala's first Left government.Eighteen was deciding Do or DieI must get down to that floor some day. Eighteen was when I first thrilled to Panchayat RajAs Nehru lit the lamp at Nagore.Eighteen was agonizing over Getting into the Foreign Service...And considering becoming PM in the alternative. Eighteen was when I slipped into my placeAt the Indian Military AcademyFor a Declamation ContestAnd found Her, all of sweet sixteen,Sitting demurely in the next chair. Of course, I fluffed my lines. But we're still together….And the last half-century has just whizzed by.