India, April 3 -- In the bustling corridors of power, conversations often revolve around policy and city planning. For Keshav Chandra, however, there exists another, quieter world he turns to - that of Hindi poetry.

A 1995-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and chairman of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Chandra's latest book, Surya se Purv ka Uttar, carries a title that is both poetic and intriguingly abstract.

"The sun rises in the East. But I was thinking: what direction could be 'beyond' the sun?" he says.

"I am looking for that space beyond the sun which acts as a beacon, where all directions emanate. What would be the direction of that space, and can the same definitions be applied to it? In poetry, you are...