By Ghazala Wahab
For a man who writes expressively emotional prose, at times bordering on sentimental, Navtej Sarna, till recently India’s foreign office spokesperson and now ambassador-designate to Israel (scheduled to take over his new assignment in November), is surprisingly reticent when it comes to talking about his life and work. Perhaps, it is fatigue of the writer who after finishing writing is now being asked to explain why he wrote what he wrote. Or perhaps, it is simply wariness of discussing the person who one has lived with for nine years and who is now exposed to public scrutiny. Or perhaps, it is simply physical exhaustion. Whatever be the reason, on the lazy October afternoon at New Delhi’s India International Centre, Sarna appears slightly tired. He offers with a smile, “Actually, I have hurt my back.”
