When lawyers turn to poetry

AHMEDABAD: They are known for deft word-play. They ply their trade by relying on the gift of gab. They also practice law, and when they change their lexicon from law to literature, what emerges is pure poetry.

‘Court Poems’ — an anthology of 69 miniature Gujarati poems is the latest offering from the state high court that includes ghazals, bhajans, songs, sonnets and haiku apart from many other genres.

‘Court Poems’ is the coming together of 46 judges and advocates. It all began when retired principal city sessions judge, Chandu Mehsanvi, noticed a literary strain among colleagues and decided to pen their thoughts.

“We knew that nearly 40-50 advocates and judges in the state had an interest in literature, when we decided to bring out a collection. We later wrote letters to those interested and put up notices in courts across the state,” Mehsanvi.

“We had to accord minor changes to some poems since not all contributors were conversant with the Gujarati metre,” Mehsanvi said.

Interestingly, some well-known names in Gujarati literature were traced to have had connection with the courts in the past. Several had been part of the court staff at different points in time.

This turned out to be a godsend for the editors of ‘Court Poems’. The writer’s works were promptly incorporated into the anthology. ‘Court Poems’ now boasts of works by noted literary figures like Chinu Modi and Manoj Khanderia.