Although he intends to revisit the entire span of about four decades of his public life in Maharashtra as also at the Centre, a major part of his memoirs will be devoted to his four-and-a-half years as a minister in Dr Manmohan Singh government. “But there will be no criticism of anybody in the memoirs,” said an aide.

Patil has been particularly low-key after he demitted office, but has been very visible in his front row seat in the Rajya Sabha. However, he is far away from the nerve centre of Delhi’s Congress politics—and even the party’s Core Group meetings.

Even after the House has been adjourned, he has been based in Delhi, careful to not make a false move. The day starts early, and in the privacy of his Janpath residence, the peacocks and peahens give him company as he takes a walk and then gets down to read and write.

The time he has got now is spent on meetings, discussions and reading other biographies ¿ most recently, Margaret Thatcher’s The Downing Street Years, Bill Clinton’s My Life and even L K Advani’s My Country, My Life.

While he is attending political functions back in Maharashtra, Latur, his home constituency, is out of bounds as it has been declared as reserved after the delimitation. While Patil continues to receive a steady stream of visitors, he is wary of the media and in no mood for interviews.