Free, free, free
Yes, we are free,
Free from social responsibilities,
Free from civic responsibilities
Yes, we are free from foreign rule,
Yet, yoked to the unforgettable past
We keep crying over
Blaming others for our own foolhardiness;
Yes, we can do what we want
We can say what we want
(But… under cover… in between lines),
This land is ours
Vivekananda’s ‘pavitra matra bhoomi’
The land of sages and philosophers
The land of Manu and Valmiki
The land of Buddha and Mahavira,
The land of Charak and Chanakya,
The land of Ashoka and Gandhi,
The visionaries and the freedom fighters
Who laid their lives for India’s freedom?
This motherland is ours
The land of superstition and black magic
Sadhus, sants, fakirs, mahatmas
And
Self-proclaimed gods
The Hare Rama cult, the Osho cult
The Mahabharata and the Ramayana
Reminding us of our ‘Krishna kanhaiyas’
Veer Arjun, Hanuman, and the Ravanas
Draupadi, we find amongst our midst
Shrieking and wailing to save her from shame
Lost on dumb voices and deaf ears
In the ‘rarest of rare’ category
Girls’ are ‘devis’ to be worshipped
Now no more
We boast about our spirituality,
Our morals and values
Deep culture, ethnicity, and traditions
Instilled and taught by the ancients
Lost in the vacant beat of the raucous drums
That beat and howl our religious fervor
Janmashtami, and Raksha bandhan
Now close at hand
Brag and claim their piety
When the next day
A sibling is raped and mutilated hideously
Demons and rakshas live amongst us
Blackening our glorious past
Somewhere, all is forgotten
Layers of dust has gathered around it
They are dreams, long drowsed in slumber
Our Brahma Samaj, our Arya Samaj
Remain just deposits
We have gained prosperity in every sphere
Yet, we are poor
Poorer than the hungry beggar on the street
We are driven cattle
We have lost our conscience.
~Shobha Diwakar
Jabalpur, India
A very beautiful poem depicting the gone by days of spirituality, truthfulness, rich culture & the downfall of all those glorious days & culture in the present time. Let’s hope we will one day again see Bharat, our loving Motherland raised to that height of being a golden bird once again with her rich culture & goodness all around.
thank u ASB for your very promising comments
let us all stand together and pray for our dear MOTHERLAND to achieve greater heights in all spheres of life and once again make it a land flowing with milk and honey
Very poignantly expressed pain .
We are free from many past tyrannies but free for what ??
A very pertinent and timely reminder to wake up !