As elections draws near
The challenges begin
Parties yell and cry they are the best
Others proclaim the same
If the opposition wins
The country will go to dogs
Just as it did years back, someone whispers
A hush resides in the hearts of the voters
They are an ambiguous lot
You never know what is heating up in their minds
Are they ready to listen?
Then form an opinion about the given slogans?
Are the obnoxious cackles drooled day and night … true?
What ulterior motives crown the day?
It is a matter of utter shame
How public money earned via taxes is squandered
Have they built proper roads?
If they ever do so, they forget to lay down pipes
So the roads are torn down to bury them
And
Then the game begins
To rebuild the roads again
If they have not forgotten about it
Otherwise, it can lie squandered until eternity
Enveloped with the dug up material,
Boulders, stones, concrete, slush, the rubble
Causing accidents
Animals… stray cows, pigs, buffaloes, horses, goats and dogs
Loiter and sit in the middle of the roads…
The municipality has no time to catch them or punish the offenders
Have they paid attention to sanitation and public hygiene?
Have they enforced law on those rioters who
Damage National, personal, and public properties
And
Stall the nation’s progress
The public pays heavy taxes and yet demanding works go unheeded
When the public servants work for 30 to 40 plus years and retire
They survive on their pensions,
But
Never grudge paying any taxes levied
Yet
Public complaints fall on deaf ears
Laws are made but not enforced
Loudspeakers and DJ’s blast and deafen
But
No authority has time to take action against the miscreants
Colonies lie in filth with open gutters
Unswept roads and cow dung greeting you at every step
Are never cleaned
The roadside uncovered gutters glare at you
Doused with breeding mosquitoes
Medical bills and heavy electricity bills
Which, includes even the power cut that extends
For hours untold… are duly paid
But
How is it that the public is charged
Even for the period when there is no power
This means the public is being ‘cleverly’ cheated
Why is it that no authority has paid attention
To this fraudulent practice
Strangely,
If you are once elected as an MP or an MLA
You thrive because you do not pay any bills
Everything comes free
And
To top it all earn a handsome pension for the rest of your life
Along with fringe benefits for self and the family
In the period of five years, you become multi, multi millionaires
So
While politicians and the elected local body members
Earn millions in a short span
Beggary is expanding by the day
The list is unending
The young generation of politicians
Wash dirty linen in public to wear the crown
The agitators line up to support their ill-begotten dreams
And
Brag dirty slogans to fool the public
In order to make hay while the sun shines
Probably they are aware
They will never win another chance to reap the harvest
The so- called not so ignorant public
The villagers who pretend to be innocent
Are in fact, wiser than the ‘followers of unfulfilled dreams’
Who crave to reign and wear the crown
That was ‘showered’ upon their heads by destiny
For a dynastic autocratic rule to loot and flourish
To degrade the well established tradition of faith and goodwill
To cherish and uphold the ideals of the glorifying past
To respect the elders and those who honestly govern the country
‘Bofors’ is not forgotten and never will be
Other frauds are too disheartening to narrate
The country is aware of them all
Some are bestowed with the Aladdin’s lamp
The genie fulfils their growing demands to covet everything
From the crown to land acquisition
Not all are lucky to wear and win the trophy (ies)
That for some lies just a palm away
So
Voters do not fall into chasms
Potholes and manholes
Be wise be prudent
Choose your vote with discretion
India must rise above petty discourses
The time has come
Jai Hind
~Shobha Diwakar
Jabalpur, India