Turbaned Khushwant Singh Punjabi Sardarji Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

The Punjabi writer,
I mean Sardarji,
Turbaned,
Pyjamans and kurta,
A Punjabi writer from Punjab
Reminiscent of Undivided India,
Its Lahore and the change of situation,
A lawyer by profession
But turned to journalism and literature
By being a novelist, a short story writer,
An autobiographer, a memoir writer,
A columnist, an editor, a translator,
A politician, a historian,
What is he not,
A porn lover, a jazz music listener,
An old man keeping company
With the film stars and glam girls.

Khushwant Singh the grand old man of letters,
Sardarji who did politics
With Indira
During the emergency period,
In the aftermath of the riots
Succeeding the assassination of her,
An ex-Rajya Sabha Member
He loves to be
In the corridors of politics
And controversy,
Stoking it,
Takes tandoori and roti
And tadaka,
But forgets to spice
And take chutney.

A bottle-master he can say about the bottles
Deshi and vilayati,
Beer, brandy,
Rum, vodka, whisky,
Champagne,
Toddy, palm and date juice,
Tribal stale rice brewed earthen bowls,
The smell and taste of them,
The ladkis
Indian, English, French, Russian,
Spanish, Italian, Bulgarian,
Ukrainian,
A daru man,
Daru piyo and write,
Daru, sex and ladki.