by Anupama Krishnakumar
Diversity
Intriguing, Incredible, Mystic
Adjectives that indelibly stick
That’s a face of India we know
And we call her rightly so!
She’s the land of bearded sadhus
The land of many religious views
The land of the incredible Taj
The land that intrigued the British Raj.
Diversity is her other name
That brings her much of her fame.
From green pastures to rocky terrains
And sandy deserts to fertile plains!
From Idli and Sambar down South
And Dhoklas of west to tease the mouth
Soft Rotis and yellowy Dal up North
Fish of the east to add to the broth!
From what we wear to the work we do
Such examples of variety are far too few
Hailed she is as the timeless beauty
She, the pinnacle of diversity!
Poverty
And yet there’s the blot on her face
As roadside huts fight for some space
Existence, and not living’s their hinge
It’s poverty that makes you cringe!
Tattered clothes and stink of the poor
A mighty menace that makes India quiver
Disease and illiteracy, its ugly offspring
It’s growth that poverty’s threatening!
A land of extremes they all say
It can’t be truer in any better way
Oh, what a sharp divide there exists
In a resourceful country as this!
The Bright Young Face
He sits and types away at his desk
In a cushioned seat from dawn to dusk
He is the bright young face of new India
A generation that says dude, gosh and yeah!
First a bike, then a car, and then a house,
It’s a dream life that many a man loves;
He is the face – educated and well-to-do
The new face of India, bright and anew!
From science and ads to space and sport
They go round the globe trot, trot, trot.
Visionaries call them the building blocks
Making India a nation that sure rocks!
And then there are the businessmen
Who are out innovating ever so often
We sure do count on each one of them
For the ‘made in India’ tag to gain momentum.
Ah, may we not miss, the entrepreneur,
The proud children who’re out to cure,
The many social ills that plague this land
Giving their mother that helping hand.
When they married!
Talk of social ills, so many there are!
He, the son of a rich man, his father’s star.
His lady love, their driver’s daughter
Can the caste tussle get any hotter?
Tried their might, they did, to convince
Little interest did their arguments evince
A woman from a lower caste? Impossible!
He heard his mom cry, yell and ramble!
So, elope they did, to lead a happy life
Earned they did everyone’s cursed strife!
In the name of honour, we don’t need her,
Said the ill-fated, love-struck woman’s brother!
The media screamed, fourth-estate it claimed
Justice shut its eyes tight, it appeared
And not before long, the story helplessly faded
As people scurried – their life had to be lived!
When a baby girl speaks..
Am finally here, I beamed
In a world that I dreamed
When I saw grandma’s lip curl
And say it is a baby girl..
Unfamiliar it all seemed
As all the men screamed
This day that I bloomed
They said all was doomed..
Where first cries were treasured
In angry voices they were buried
We want her no more, they said
It’s only ill luck I bred..
I meant good to none
Save her, the only one,
One, who would stop to bother
She, my poor dear mother..
Yet, I felt her palm moisten
Momma, not this bad, bitter poison
Momma, give me your goo’ food
Pray, why should I be done for good?
Minds crooked and bent, O’Gracious Death
Tell me, is this life’s worth?
This world, I know, I shall never miss
Please silence me, with your kiss..
The need of the hour
It’s a mighty big war against many foes
Population, terror, corruption, chaos
Emerging we have been for years now
Time for us to take a bow!
It’s the right attitude that now matters
Join hands, shred the hitches to tatters
These need to be taken beyond writing
Many small steps for nation building!
A mammoth task it indeed is
Make a difference in little ways
Social responsibility holds the key
And so does literacy
An initiative no matter how small
To improve health and bring awareness to all
A leader for India’s cause each of us will be
Let’s tell ourselves, it begins with me!
Pic : paral lax – http://www.flickr.com/photos/gravlax/
