Atal may not have found much time to write poems, but he was very fond of attending kavi goshtis. Budhiraja says that political ideologies and party affiliations did not prevent Atal from going to poetry-reading sessions organized by rival party members. ‘He required just a nudge to attend these poetry-reading sessions and I have seen him at the home of Congressmen like Bhagwat Jha Azad and Girija Vyas or at the home of socialists like Ladli Mohan Nigam. For him poetry was above politics.’
