PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

      

            

After 50 years

Still struggling

But that's all right

For some countries

Well over 150

And they're still

Not being able to

Raise their head

Above water

Like the West

Where they are

Now eager learning

The basics of life



Oh Mother India!

With your immense

Land mass

So many cultures

Dialects and customs

The cradle of Sanskrit

And the bread basket

Of Europe and Asia

Yet you forge ahead

With non-alignment

And Socialism

As others try to enslave

Your peoples and beliefs



Mother India you!

Where disciples

Of your dharma

Come from

The world over

Like a magnet

You draw the high

And the low brows

From Stars of Hollywood

To dancers from Bollywood

From the Beatles to Jesus

To the Great Mahatma

Like the Mecca

Of the world

All have trod

Your good earth



Oh Mother India!

Your children

From the four corners

Look up at you

With  majestic pride

Like the Sacred Ganges

You wind your way

Amidst the plains

And pains of

Social problems

Of restless

Religious turmoils

Abject corruption

And incomparable affluence



Oh Mother India!

As you move over

Past 50years

After independence

Refusing to abide

With Mohandas Gandhi?s

Steadfast Non-violence

Maybe partition was not

Such a good idea after all

For Muslims and Hindus

Still look at one another

As brothers not

As matadors

With mad cow disease

Aided and abetted

By myopic politicians



Oh Mother India!

You spread your tentacles

All over the five continents

From the foothills

Of the Himalayas

With the magnificent Everest

To Nagercoil

Near the Indian Ocean

Sandwiched by Pakistan

And wretched Bangladesh

As numerous offsprings

Still clasp like straw

At your Dharma

Preaching your religion

Customs and traditions

Despite the battering

Of other religions

Who steadfastly try

To change your children



Mother India the Great!

Your beauty

Is world renown

Mankind awed at  your

Kasmiri women

Making jealous English

Green with your

Fair complexion

Your picturesque landscapes

Are unrivalled

Your forests are famous

Where white hunters? slaughter

Your majestic tigers

Striking a pose

Atop elephants and platforms

Hanging your trophies

On their walls



Oh Mother India!

Your History is unrivalled

From the erotic Kama Sutra

To the Bhagwat Gita

From Kublai Khan

To the British Raj

You tell it like it is

And you live it

Like it was

Your rich culture pattern

Woven across your girth

Like the colours

Of Joseph?s coat

Winding its way

Like the tributaries

And rich deltas

Of the Brahmaputra

Indus, Kistna and Godavari

To the meanderings

Of the Sacred Ganges



Oh Mother India!

Land of the untouchables

Where caste is not taboo

Where arranged marriages

And dowries

Are still a way of life

Where your customs

Baffles the pundits

Of modern civilizations

Yet you trudge on

Like an Iron Horse

Belching the stench

Of unwanted venom

Despite new propositions

And frequent oppositions

Prevalent among

The rich and poor



Oh Mother India

Your mistakes are forgiven

For your British masters

Showed your brilliance

For you were a good pupil

You towed the line

With your fearless

Courageous Gurkhas

They taught you

To divide and rule

You did it with Partition

It showed like always

The British was too greedy

To let Hindus and Muslims

Live in harmony

Betraying you

To the misguided Jinnah

Crushing the Mahatmas

Philosophy of non-violence



Today your children

Are shedding your

Dhotis and Kurtahs

For Jeans and Nike

Clamoring aimlessly

For western toys

For rock, rap and MTV

Replacing Amitah Bachan

With Michael Jackson

The singing nightingale

Popular Lata Mageshkar

With Madonna

And as you watch

With tears in your eyes

You see another betrayal

Of your culture and dharma



Oh Mother India!

Maybe with new blood

And the new thinking

In Congress

The old cronies

Who replaced Gandhi?

And the brilliant

Jawarhall Nehru

Will find it in their heart

To work for the benefit

Of the poor and the homeless

And the downtrodden

Would stop child poverty

And end child slavery

The defibulation of women

Corruption and nepotism

And for once

In their lifetime

Before reincarnation

Do real good soon

For their own sakes.