The tale of my country
I am Bharat, the land of sages and spiritualism,
Having my name christened from,
The name of brave son of,
Shakuntala and King Dushyant – Bharat.
I have seen the years come and go,
Years turned to decades,
Decades into centuries,
Centuries turned to the millennium,
And millennium changed into Time-Periods.
I have seen the birth of Maryada Purushotam Shri Rama
And the examples-setting Shri Krishna leelas,
I have seen the deadly battles of Mahabharat,
Fought between brothers and relatives,
Wiping out my fringe from all great warriors.
I saw the birth of Great Gautam Buddha
Spreading the sweetness of love and peace,
And also the nativity of Mahaveer,
Emphasizing on penance.
I have seen the valour of Porous, the patriot,
I have witnessed the great teacher and disciple duo –
The great economist Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya,
Who brought the golden age to my credits.
I have been the spectator of transformation
Of Chanda Ashoka to Dharma Ashoka.
I have also witnessed,
The mingling of Sufism,
With the rule of Ghori and Ghazni,
The ransacking of the temples, and
The rise of Slave, Khilji and Lodi Dynasties,
I have welcomed all my invaders with an open heart.
I saw the rise of Akbar to power,
With nine noble jewels – Navratnas in his court,
I have been the silent viewer of the barbarism of Aurangzeb,
And the revolution by Marathas and Sikhs,
Under Shivaji Maharaja and Guru Hargobind Saheb Ji,
To live a life of dignity and respect.
I have seen the cruelty of the British Raj
Over my poor citizens and the beginning of
The modern era with my martyred sons –
Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev,
The torch-bearers of peace and non-violence,
The Mahatma Gandhi and Chacha Nehru,
I was proud of the formation of my army – Indian Army,
By my true son, Subash Chandra Bose,
I have silently watched,
The bloodbath after brutally,
Tearing me into two parts – India and Pakistan.
I thought the time for peace has come,
My children will live together and
My upcoming days will be filled
With prosperity and dignity.
But something else had already
Been decided by fate for me.
I again witnessed the war
Between two of my newly
Formed children – Pakistan and India,
My patience was again tested
When China attacked me and
Caused havoc on my army.
I was the mute spectator of the sudden demise
Of my lal, Lal Bahadur Shastri,
In foreign soil – away from home,
Who called for “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”.
And the assassination of my daughter – Indira Gandhi
and my young son – Rajeev Gandhi.
I watched my farmer sons
Becoming self-reliant through Green Revolution
Followed by the White Revolution,
I saw the contribution of,
Tatas, Birlas in building the nation,
And the Ambanis – new to the billionaire gang.
I saw my inhabitants dancing to the tunes of
Dilip Kumar & Meena Kumari and Raj Kapoor & Nargis,
I saw the first-ever superstar of Bollywood – Rajesh Kumar
And Rajnikant – that of Tollywood.
I saw the craze for cricket
And worshipping of Sachin, as God to cricket.
I saw the transition of the economy from
Closed market to that of Open market
I saw the newspaper changing to 24/7 news,
Pen and paper changing to keyboards and mouse,
Books changing to online pdfs and virtual libraries,
The transportation changing from
Buses and Trains to Metros and Planes,
The attire changing from
Sarees to jeans and tees,
Dhotis to shirts and pants.
I witnessed the people outlook
Changing from vernacular schools
To English medium schools
To the latest E-learning,
The craze for rice, dal and sabzi
Replaced with pizzas, mocktails, and noodles,
The family tree changing from joint to nuclear,
With peoples becoming busy in their chores,
And no time for anyone, with the motto –
Only WhatsApp! No time to talk.
I stand visualizing the change in my citizens,
Forgetting their traditional beliefs,
And engaging in western lifestyles,
The incidents of cheating, murders, rapes and trafficking,
Have burnt my soul and left it injured,
My soul cries when I see,
My children go to sleep,
Without any food to eat and,
Clean water to drink.
The thought of another invasion,
From foreign nations torments me,
The dirty politics to gain power,
And the corruption in the governance
Has left me lurched.
The decisions of demonetization and lockdown,
Have been welcomed by me,
But the plights of my children –
The poor and the migrant labourers
Have left me thinking –
Was this the reason
Why I had been formed,
By the tectonic movements of Earth’s plates,
Was this the reason for my very existence,
Where I have to die every single day,
With my sons and daughters,
Not in the border only
But also within my boundaries
As a mother, who has been witnessing
All the atrocities throughout her existence,
Has been in dark shadows of slavery,
Has been in poor light
As the land of snake-charmers.
Is this what have I imagined?
Is this what I have wanted?
In true sense, I will be happy
When my peoples will take care of me,
When my children will stand for me,
When they will create a Ram Rajya,
Where there is only love and respect,
Along with peace and togetherness,
Where the constitution is actually,
By the People, Of the People, For the People
Only then I will be called –
“A Golden Bird” or “A Golden Heritage”.