Sanjay Raut launches book Bodh Kirtan with Uddhav and Raj Thackeray on stage

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's book "Bodh Kirtan" was launched at a function attended by Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray, MNS president Raj Thackeray and writer Ambarish Mishra as chief guests. Raut cracked several jokes from the stage. He said, "Can't Sanjay Raut be spiritual? He does kirtan every day at 10 o'clock."

Raut said, "Every book should be celebrated in Maharashtra, which is why I hold a function for each of my books." He said that festivals of food and clothes are always celebrated, but literary events should be given priority to prove that people in Maharashtra's capital gather and talk for Marathi literature.

On the title, Raut said, "A good speaker should also be a good kirtankar." According to him, some people hear the name "Bodh Kirtan" and wonder how Raut can be spiritual. Raut said a speaker can give a good kirtan only if they have something worth saying, and such a kirtankar draws more listeners.

Recalling his days in jail, Raut said, "In the 105 days I got in jail, there was no work at all. Writers should be sent to jail from time to time, as it will produce the finest literature." He said the best writings of Veer Savarkar, Lokmanya Tilak, Jayaprakash Narayan, Gorky, Stalin and Lenin were written in jail, and the spark of revolution is also lit there.

Raut also shared an anecdote from jail. He said, "Next to the cell where we were kept, there was a beautiful cell like a 2-BHK hall." When he asked the jailer to shift him there, the jailer would say that the cell had been kept for Nirav Modi or Vijay Mallya, to show a court in London that human rights were being followed.

In his speech Raut asked, "Is Modi my personal enemy?" He said that while in jail he listened to Modi's speech on Lord Shri Ram at the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, and wrote it down. According to Raut, there was no teleprompter in front of him, and the speech came out spontaneously and was non-political. He called it a fine specimen among all of Modi's speeches so far, which is why it has been included in the book. Raut said, "I am human too, we also have feelings, we like poems."

Raut also said that the noted poet Grace used to come and sit for hours in his cabin at "Saamana". The book took shape from conversations with many such literary friends.