Politics is what I do, poetry is what I am: Varun Gandhi

At the recently held Bengaluru Poetry Festival, Feroze Varun Gandhi was a picture of composure, very unlike the angry young politician that the world is familiar with. In his session on Saturday, the Gandhi scion read poems from Surrender (his unpublished work that will be out in early 2018), and interacted with the audience, inviting them to 'interrupt me if you have any questions'.He showed that there was a wry side to him, as well. But before taking the stage, Gandhi spoke to TOI. And while he refused to entertain questions about his political career, the 36-year-old MP from Sultanpur, UP, was more than happy to comment on his love for the verse. Eexcerpts:
The image of a poet-politician is so contrarian...
The way I look at it, politics is like the body and poetry is like the soul, it's more transcendental. The body exists to self-perpetuate, to survive - it has got one physical goal, which is to keep itself going. Poetry on the other hand is like the soul - it wants to search, it wants to soar, it's more aspirational, more hopeful. It's a conversation with yourself, you know. Poetry is the only way I can hear myself, so all the poems (I write) are really about me, about conversations with myself. So where you talk about politics and poetry, politics is what I do, and poetry is what I am.
Does politics in anyway influence what you write?
Who you are will obviously condition your thoughts. Those thoughts in turn will condition your politics. Jaise Hindi mein kehte hain - dono ke aadhe aadhe daant ek doosre mein. For me, both of them, politics and poetry, are invested in each other. But while politics is more about the realization of your thoughts in terms of action, poetry is a sort of 'gnosis'- a sort of deeper knowledge that you seek. There's a poem I wrote, which is sort of political, its called, In My Heart. The poem is about how politics is a briar of thorns that you may think is really going to elevate you, but unless it is something very noble you are invested in, it is self-containing, which is not enough. Poetry is not like that -- it's ethereal, not ephemeral.
(Gandhi read a few lines from the poem)
In my heart,
There's a filigree of death,
It will not let me bleed,
For as I rise and rise and rise,
It will all turn to seed
And as I break myself upon the wall,
the wall that shapes my pain,
I rise and rise and rise and rise
And I wonder whether I have fallen again
Did you ever think of only becoming a poet?
No. Because unfortunately no one buys poetry (laughs). If people are buying my books, it's because of my last name.
Have you ever thought of writing fiction?
Poetry came naturally to me. That said, I am writing a book now. It's sort of an academic work called A Syntax of Subsidiarity and is about whether Indian villages have an economic future. I am travelling (for research) for that book.
How critical are your wife and mother about your poems?
They are too critical (laughs).