One more year, one more date
Has convinced us we have enjoyed
69 years of independence
What did the nation lose, what has it gained
Has yet to be analyzed
Those harsh years of struggle, rapes and murders
Are stories of the past
The innocent massacres of millions
On either side of the border lie buried
In the conscience of those who laid their lives
For freedom; the freedom which we enjoy
Have we learnt our lesson?
Perhaps not:
“Are murders, rapes, kidnappings, terrorism?”
Mere stories of the past:
The nation today demands leaders
Who will rise up above petty differences
And think about their duties rather than
Squabble in sacred ‘sessions’ of Parliament
Where laws and policies are formulated
For the progress of the nation
Adversely the sessions are crudely defiled
For selfish motives and disgusting verbal abuses
Words in the dictionary fall short of their ugly utterances
And brickbats hurled at each other
No leader is pure in moral upbringing
It seems as though might is right
The more you subjugate the other
The higher the price of the opponent
Yes, we are free, freedom has been earned
On the battle ground of bloody bath
The hands are stained like those of Lady Macbeth
The ghosts of the past relives in Macbeth’s of today
Yes we are free, freedom is ours to enjoy
So we can disobey, we can walk in the middle of the road
We can destroy the peace of others
We can vile the environment and deafen each other’s ears
With blaring loudspeakers with dedicated songs of heroism
As though it is ‘we’ who laid our lives for the nation
And resurrected to enjoy this freedom
Tomorrow this ‘desh- bhakti’ will be forgotten
And we will be sitting in ivory- towers
Each locked in his own selfish aspirations
To rise like the sphinx
Such shooting stars will engulf the freedom
There is time … Think of the nation
To enjoy future years of Freedom
~ Shobha Diwakar
Jabalpur, India
It’s a beautiful poem. Yes, it’s very true that we have misunderstood the real meaning of freedom cos we think that now we have obtained freedom to draw daggers against each other on the slightest thought of being provoked which may not be true but only our imagination. We have lost all respect for one another. It’s a very sorry state of affairs in our country. Lets hope & pray things get better soon. Jai Hind