Human society
is clearly divided into –
The competent
and the helpless!
On one side –
Are corrupt political parties
and their wicked followers,
Enriched by comfortable
facilities,
They are happy,
Amassing gold and riches.
They are easy going,
And masters and sycophants!
They have bungalows, / brothels,
undergrounds and bunkers,
They are enjoying
all sorts of rare gifts,
Amazement, astonishment!
On the other side –
There are people,
Thirsty, starved, weak, dispossessed ... scared,
illiterate,
oppressed, unorganized,
Busy in work
in the fields and villages,
On the roads and in cities,
Exploited / Deceived
and Suspicious!
[2] DISTRESSED
The rain
does not stop even for a while,
Never gives even a bit of relief
To those villages and localities
submerged under water!
As a matter of fact,
A calamity has befallen this year,
Deva, stood aloof,
Calm and dumb-founded!
His mud-hut,
Thatched roof collapsed,
Only, his household goods
turned upside down!
Flour and pulses
were swept away,
Deva, remained hungry!
Firewood soaked,
Earthen hearth will not light up
in the kitchen,
Other things remaining
were floating..
Roaring aircrafts in the sky
like flying vultures!
Perhaps
The leaders / ministers
have arrived
to have a stroll!
Mourning spread all around
In the North and the South
And in the East and the West!
Grievous is that
The rain didn't stop!
[3] VISION
O you, the vanquished
In the bitter struggle of life!
O you, beaten by misfortune
At every step!
Don't mourn
helplessly,
Dense darkness spread
all around.
Don't lose your spirit!
Treat your defeat
As a prior intimation to your victory,
Treat the darkness
As the background of sunrise!
Let this dam of faith
not crack!
Let this dream of new age
not break!
Let this thread of feeling
not be loosened!
[4] CHANGE IN
ENVIRONMENT
How much
The season has changed!
New looks
All around!
The dream
Which was foreseen
Has become true ,
We have our grip
On our lives
and on our fortunes!
The measure of equality
We have adopted
Has flourished
and expanded beyond limits!
That laid the foundation
For a new socio-economic order!
Those exploited and oppressed
Have awakened
and have become the architects
of a new age!
The sky echoed by the slogans
of the feelings of equality!
How much
The season has changed!
[5] PLEASURE GIVING
In lands
far off and nearby
I have searched and found
My co-believers and co-workers.
And in a mysterious way
Every limb of my body
is tied to them naturally
by unbreakable strings,
From all the four sides
by strong threads!
Now, am I alone?
Today, how big
My family has become
All of a sudden!
While departing
In what measure
This love —
pure and intense,
Has showered on my soul
Giving it a splendid bath!
In abundance!
The empty lake of my heart
is brimming full with ripples
from all the sides!
[6] MARVELOUS
Why a man –
with love
and affection
Never
looks at a man
belonging to other religion?
He considers him as an alien
And very often
Treats him as his foe!
Oh, finding an occasion
He never hesitates
to trouble him
And wants
to uproot him!
At his very sight
He feels
Tension,
A dense cloud of malice
Spreads
All around!
How it happens?
Why it happens?
What a sort of man is he?
O, a wonderful man
How is he?
Well, Ah! Miracle
He belongs to an unique religion!
Really
Like death,
He is dreadful and abhorrent!
He who believes and thinks
The people of other religions
Merely insignificant!
[7] DREAM
Some ‘Bhatnagar’,
Insane and crazy,
Has killed
The honourable Prime Minister ...
By shooting at him!!
When the news spread
Suddenly
People gathered around me ....
'He is ‘Bhatnagar’,
Kill ... kill this bloody fellow!
He is a murderer ... a murderer!'
I explained them very much,
I explained to them
in a screaming voice –
'Brothers, I am not
'The Bhatnagar' of that kind!
O it is my actual name,
But not my surname!
I am'Mahendrabhatnagar' or 'Mahendra',
I am not 'Bhatnagar' or 'Vatnagar',
Brothers, never!
Just, you think
And understand me a little!
But, when the crowd thinks?
When it listens to truth or logic?
All the people pounced on me
And turned my house into ashes!!
Let history testify
Who, when and where
Has suffered this horror?
Has endured this tyranny?
When and where
In such a mood of beastliness
The human society
Losing its way
Has gone out of bounds ?
Why our dynasty, / our religion
Is linked to names,
Pen names or nick names?
Let someone say in a natural way
I am a Christian or a Muslim
Or a Hindu
[One of the 'karyasthas' 1
– a low ’ shudra'2]
Let him say
That 'my name is - Mahendrabhatnagar',
In which is hidden
Neither my clan nor my religion!
[No secret whatsoever!]
So it is not right to say –
'What is there in a name!'
Or
'Don't ask the caste of a Sadhu3
O Kabir4!
Will someone will comply
With your word?
After all,
When someone will accept your word?
In an 'educated' society,
In a 'civilized and well cultured’ society,
How much secure is the man?
How much insecure is the man?
O all knowing Almighty,
Give the witness truthful!
1 A Hindu caste.
2 A man of the fourth caste among Hindus.
3 The saint.
4 A revolutionary Hindi poet.
[8] EXPERIENCE-PROVED
Undoubtedly,
This night will be pitch-dark,
This night will be ghastly,
And each hurting knock
Will fail,
And defeated will this night pass!
Undoubtedly,
We shall be free
From the agonizing dark circle,
We shall stand before
A golden morning,
A morning
Tinted with vermilion!
Undoubtedly,
Light
Will conquer darkness,
Yes, undoubtedly!
Birds shall twitter,
And men
Shall sing the morning choir!
From the sky,
Shall descend
The sunbeams with dancing steps,
Smiling brightly!
It is certain
That the torturous, difficult, distressing and dark night
shall pass!
Teeming
This sky shall rain fury,
And the wounded life of man
Shall heal !
[9] ATTENTION
Darkness and despondency pervade!
Intense melancholy!
Utter hopelessness
has seized the entire universe,
and bogged it down
completely ..
But don't be alarmed!
Overwhelmed,
Don't be diffident
even for a moment.
Do not relax!
For
it is certain
festoons
light will prevail.
Come
let us sing songs
of light and hope
to blight the blues
and snuff out gloom.
Surely darkness will die!
[10] INDOMITABLE
Afar
Is over cast dense fog -
Piercing the fog
On path
We march on !
Rocks whenever
Blocked our paths -
Breaking rocks
New paths we pave !
Of winds
Bitter chilly
Cyclonic blows
Confronting tempestuous cyclones
Chests dilated
On each step
we insist!
Against sea-shore
Dashes
The mountain of terrific tides -
Riding raised waves
With full might
We fight !
Floods of rivers
Breaking banks overflow -
Stopping
Whirl-pools / pressures;
Security-ships we sail !
Dark blind night of doom
On earth
Whenever envelops -
Illuminating the skies
Suns of hopes,
And faiths
We raise !
Jewel-lamps we light !
Whenever volcanoes
Vomited fire horrendous —
On lava wide-spread
Our abodes dauntless
We make !
Whenever earthquakes
Towns and villages
Razed —
On heaps of stones
New habitations
Every time
We populate !
From blasts of
Atom-bombs / hydrogen-bombs
On devastated lands
O behold
Flag of life we unfurl!
On all sides
Lush vegetation afresh
We grow !
How will you break
their heads ?
Oh how will you crack
their heads ?
Indomitable are they
Wonderful bend they have !
On time-tablet is inscribed
‘Life is invincible !’
[11] DETERMINED
Shiny, glowing
torches we are.
Lofty
glowing lights are we.
We are the lighthouses
flashing permeative glares.
We are the lodestars.
Calm and composed,
firmly resolved
we are :
to shatter
the intense, painful
all pervading gloom and
to scatter
over whelming lustrous brilliance
all over, everywhere.
Our radiant aura
infuses confidence
and defuses
all misgivings of mankind
lock, stock and barrel,
eliminates every nagging doubt,
and in a jiffy
suffuses pleasure all around,
removing all hurdles.
We are determined
to elute deep rooted
despondency and dejection
from every melancholy heart
and to rejuvenate it
with optimism.
[12] RELEVANCE
Come,
Let's step out
Of the circle of these walls,
Of these ramparts!
Let's rise above
Our pleasure seeking
And change the world's lament
Into music!
Let's gift smiles
To pale, weeping faces,
Let's clear the mist
Hanging over life's path!
Let's paint
This pitch dark world
With a resplendent brilliance,
With merciless attacks
Of miseries and wants.
Let's cover
The defects and the helplessness
With victory-garlands
Laden with yellow and red roses!
Let's visit each home
And give the frightened children
Lovely laughter,
Let's raise a colourful garden
On this gravelled and thorny barrenness!
[13] MORE OF STRUGGLE
The dream
To realise which -
A whole generation did
struggle
Ceaseless struggle,
Life-sacrifice unreserved
That is come !
Left imprinted
Joy on each lip,
Shone summits - sublime !
Inflamed
In each individual’s conscience
Fire,
Novel gusto filling fire !
Sense bereft stricken country
Full of new vigour
Was awake,
Their dense desperation
darkness covered,
blackened guise
Directions changed,
Each person was in motion
Vibrant each atom !
To make helpless
Tyrannical unkind
Imperialistic Power
Beaming with new faith
Drew on time-tablet
The outline of which dream
That,
Ay, that was realised !
But then ...
Unexpected-sudden
An imminent / rumbling / tumbling all
Full of selfishness-lust
Earthquake
Demolished -
Toil-made
Sky-scrapers,
Dreams of peace and happiness
Of man tyrannized
age after age!
So; again
Firm pledge we have to take,
Have to keep word,
Have to fill new colours
In dreams disfigured and dim,
Girding up our loins
We have to struggle hard again !
[14] INHUMAN
Today again
Faith is broken,
Today again
Bedimmed
Is the hope of life new !
Razed are
The fancy-palaces
on the verge of realization !
Swept are
Too fast retaliatory
Swelling tide
Gathered for ages
Splendid-life mountains of faiths !
Overcast today; again
Are clouds of doom,
The sun -
Of culture and civilization
Again is eclipsed,
Conspiracies beleaguered
This country of mine !
Today again
Is wounded to the core !
In every town is spread
the smell
Of gunpowder,
poisonous and fatal,
From combustibles
The earth is overlaid
Security-forts have fallen
And every rampart
Is demolished !
Racial jealousy born
Religious hatred spread
Regional-linguistic jealousy barked,
Dirty is environment!
Giant’s garb everywhere !
Breaths choked
Polluted air,
Poison-mixed water
Restless life !
[15] A PAGE
FROM HISTORY
It is true -
Beleaguered are we
On all sides
On each step
In the Chakra-vyuhs1
of cannibals,
In piles
Of corpses and bones
Staggering we stand !
It is true -
Besieged are we
On all sides
On each step
In net laid far and wide
By cannibals
In their heinous moves
of treachery !
Fastening with
gunpowder tunnels
Have made inactive
Our iron feet
Our mighty stout arms !
Filled with fatal poisonous smell
With foul smell
Winds from the directions four !
It is true -
Their cruel claws
Have suffocated throat
Have suppressed
Blazing blood-red lips
Make every injustice known !
Each nerve of brain
Is bound to burst out,
Astounded we are !
Cracked prowess
Existence / Ego of entity!
It is true that
of aggressive-retaliatory powerful hands
As if capability agility
were snatched
Neither do we challenge
any more
Nor scream,
Voice strangulated
As if it were the sunset
Of hope, of movement, progress,
of humanity, victory,
confidence!
No more in our wit
Does the thundering
quick lightning flash
Of revolutionary
faiths and feelings
As if consciousness
Were inert like matter !
We were effortless,
Are helpless,
Are stupefied,
Are overpowered
by excessive tiredness !
But
No more now
Shall stable remain
The course of
violence and cruelty
Of man against man !
We take a pledge firm
To make sturdy strife
To come out of this plight !
1 Circular labyrinth strategic deployment of army.
[16] IN THE CIRCLIP OF TERROR
Our country is in the grip of
a deep - rooted foul of conspiracy.
It's caught
in the snares of
clever and cunning gangs;
is stuck in the quagmire of
vile bigotry and despicable caste-ism.
It is grappling with
a menacing savagery.
A country
which cultivated interpersonal relations
and friends,
indulged in dreams and aspirations
is now enmeshed in
horrible terror.
Engaged in
cultivating newish culture vultures,
devoted to
peace and nonviolence,
this country is now
caught in tough mortification
and tortuous troubles.
[17] ORDEAL
Black terrible night,
Storm
All around,
But,
Be ever lit -
Lamp ....
A jewel lamp
Of goodwill : of fellow-feeling !
Growing youth
Of the country
Shan’t go astray !
Luminous country’s
Awakened youth
Forgetting the Age’s end
Shall not go astray
Not in the least ruined !
Wipe him off -
Who is taking recourse to violence,
Wipe him off -
Who in religion-frenzy
Is spreading hatred,
Ambushing
Shoots bullets
On wayfarers
On the guiltless !
To wipe off -
Who turned
A shrine !
Into a flared up gun-powder magazine!
From these intentions ill
Youth of the New age
Not in the least
Shall go astray !
No matter
Night were blacker still,
No matter
More fierce were
Cyclonic attacks,
But,
Of goodwill : of fellow-feeling
Stable lamp
A jewel lamp
Unshaken
Be ever lit !
Saintly life’s
Incessant devoted youth
Modern,
Shan’t go astray !
Though
Bolt-bearing cloudlets overcast,
Though
Violent storms came,
Lamp of goodwill
Lamp of righteous resolve
Being doubt-free
Non-stop
As usual
Be ever lit !
Not for an instant
Will be broken
Light-flow!
Being shaken,
Youth of the country
Shan’t go
Astray !
Destructive powers
Whenever emerged,
Humanity
Suppressed ’n’ crushed them
Every time!
Undying —
Victory confidence !
History is
Eye-witness !
Enkindled youth of the country
Shan’t go
Astray !
Conspiracies to breach
The unity
Shall fail,
We shall remain
One nation undivided
Mighty power !
Bear
Can’t we in any case
Against the country
Fraud ’n’ treachery / treason
Guilt !
My country’s
Science-enlightened youth
In dry wells
Shall never go astray !
[18] INVOKING MODERN MEN
First
we think about
our house, our family,
then about our religion,
our caste, our state,
our language and our script.
Faiths : narrow
Convictions : circumscribed!
We,
for upholding
our such thinking
shed copious human blood,
riddle with bullets our neighbours;
we become savage,
more fiendish
than the man eater carnivores;
we attain
extremely horrifying stature
because we assume that,
that is the only channel for
becoming great and
for attaining martyrdom.
Generation after generation
this thought process
has become a part of our consciousness
and we can't be weaned away from it.
Again and again
our God incites us
to kill other's God
to destroy the symbols of their faiths
and thus feel that
paradise
is secure only for us.
History testifies
that we ignore our country
and the concept of world community
does not appeal to us.
On this earth
only we will live.
The followers of our religion,
people of our caste,
citizens of our state
those who speak our language
and know our script only
constitute our country
and form our universe.
Who will undo this brand name
and annihilate this polluted world?
Modern thinkers
come, draw near us
and for the sake of humanity
let us create our society
having no religion and no caste,
and eradicate geographical boundaries of nations,
Consider different languages and scripts
as the accomplishments
of human intellect.
Modern men
now don't remain mute
and fence sitters!
[19] THE OTHER AGE
When will that age come
when a human
will simply be called the human?
How long will his identity
remain linked to
a country, a religion
a caste and a sub-caste,
a language and a dialect,
colour and race?
When will the primeval face of the human
be presented graphically?
When will the human
be addressed
as a human being?
His world is one,
his species is one,
his attributes are the same,
his needs are the same
his birth is the same,
his end is the same.
How long will he then
continue to be differentiated?
After all how long will he
bear hundreds of stings
of the savage mind?
Break
the artificial boundaries of the nations.
Break
The irrelevant, superficial, and orthodox faiths.
Break
the divisive regimes
of castes and sub-castes.
The differences of
languages and dialects
are acquired,
but nature oriented
are the physical features,
colours and races
of various humans.
All these should not impede
coming together
of human beings
and should not become
wedges to hold them apart.
May a new seraph, a new prophet,
a new archangel
incarnate in the twenty first century
and establish
a sublime human religion!
Before reaching other worlds
Human identity
should become confirmative!
[20] O HISTORY-
CREATORS !
Without changing
Man’s destiny -
Man
That -
Is accursed
Is tortured
With life’s wants,
Man
That -
Hacked rebuked agitated afflicted
With torments, with tensions;
Without changing
That
Plagued man’s destiny
Without changing
The world’s image -
The world
That —
Full of violence,
Reprehensible,
Wicked, nude beastliness-ridden
Blood-besmeared
Rife with cruelty
Fatal arms-might pride-frenzied,
Without changing
The picture of that
Ill starred world;
O History-creators !
In pleasurable haunts
Sleep not, sleep not a wink !
Reluctant to struggle-strife
Be not, be not !
Without demolishing
The rampart of each division,
Without shattering
Shackles fettering legs,
O History-creators
Attainable by labour non-stop
Decisive winning chance
Hey, miss not, miss not !
Without changing
Man’s destiny,
Without changing
World’s image,
Sleep not, sleep not !
[21] OPPOSITION
Path of progress obstructed,
Caste-war.
Family-pride
Has become the frightful fatal snake.
Bite / fierce bite,
Bottomless fall of creation’s grand creature.
March, march ahead!
To break
Bestial horns grown on man’s head
And sharp teeth!
To snap
The inhuman casteism!
To concatenate
In one string
The society and the individual.
[22] STRANGE
How strange it is!
Even after three decades of independence,
Even after the completion
of five Five-Year plans
The common man of my country is poor!
Very poor!
How strange it is!
Everywhere
Rule the money, the rank, the animal,
What kind of self-rule?
Money, rank, animal
Makers of the destiny of Bharat,
These being applauded everywhere, all around,
Their vanity
Abounds / surrounds
And all other things
are gone to the winds!
Administration
Blind, deaf
Dense is every man’s trouble
(Our bad luck!)
Seems –
Change is not far off,
Very near!
But today
how strange it is!
[23] BEGINNING A CHANGE
It won't be–
bullet should
oppress truth,
honest be forced to
prostrate before
the tyrant,
it won’t be!
Several centuries
have endured
the slavery of barbarity,
but now
it won’t be!
Bayonets of tortures
have become blunt,
don’t you see –
the foundations
of lustful plans
of the brutal are jolting?
Every country
the cell of death
is getting air and light of life!
The curtain
from horrendous conspiracies
has been raised,
the entire atmosphere
is now anew!
[24] CO-OPERATION
Let us
convert distances
of countries / of men
into extreme proximity.
Let us build
a very strong
bridge!
Let us transform
the strangeness
of heart / of feelings
into consolation
and promise of protection.
Let us raise
a sky-scaling flag
of mutual amity!
Let us change
the ignorance / the lack of intelligence
of religions / of different faiths
into well-defined thorough perception.
Let us
aim at the welfare
of all humanity!
[25] THE SABOTEUR
.
Who —
Who is that
interrupts our dreams,
That deforms and change
our decorated pictures ?
Make dwarf
their largeness,
Fill depression
in there freedom?
.
Who ?
Who is the impudent?
That gives inconsistent shape
to each relevant line
by breaking at places?
.
Robbing the meaning of the whole scenario,
Decorates it with absurd specialties!
.
Removing from the right context
hang topsy-turvy,
in ridicule,
on walls
spotted.
.
Breaking
the live idols of our faiths,
turn them into mimicry,
coloured in coaltar1!
.
Whose horse-laugh is this?
Rippling all-round
snakes’ nooses!
.
Be cautious —
I won't allow history to repeat,
Don’t allow oppressors
to sing a victory song,
crushing down dead bodies of mute!
The dynamic attributes of
these dreams,
these pictures,
and experienced reality
will break
spreading far and near
numerous invisible
nets of spies!
.
The true relationship will develop
first time
between man and man!
1 Black sticky substance. Charcoal.
[26] NOT ANY MORE
Not a step more
On the path
Of age-worn principles,
Today lies uncovered
Each deception
Of this exploiting system.
No longer possible it is
To be caught in the beliefs of the past,
And to stunt
The ever expanding consciousness.
Uncovered is the banality
Of all old rituals,
No longer possible it is
To destroy
The new creation
Of the ever-changing social life.
A new peak of human respect
Rises,
The earth and the sky are bathed
In a new light,
The crushed life
Glows,
Moulding the hard rock
Into beautiful sculpture.
[27] OUR AMBIENCE
In my country
O ye crores of the oppressed!
Ye
Are not rid of
Foot-paths still,
Swimming
In the sea of boiling blood
Got not the shore !
Even in this eighth decade
Of twentieth century
Overhead yours
Is the open sky
Beneath
Is the bare earth !
Desolate looks
Cold sighs !
Crippled helplessness
Winter, rain, storm !
In the mouths of
Rotund and fat
Khadi-clad
Evil character
Businessmen-capitalists
House-owners, colonialists
Pleader-leaders
As before
Abides - ‘Gandhi’
In bungalows and palatial buildings
On walls
Is hung Gandhi !
(Or on the gibbet is suspended Gandhi !)
Of manoeuvred brain
Ill-tempered
These ‘destiny-makers’ of new India
In ‘Ambassadors’1
Blowing dust
Spitting on the oppressed
Trampling on humanity
Loiter carefree
Those desirous of petty conveniences
Touch their feet!2
Amazed is my whole generation
How dishonest leadership is !
1 (here) Name of a car.
2 A highly respectable Indian mode of salutation.
[28] PRESENT
It’s an age
of chaos, insecurity,
of expression
of incessant enmity,
full of bitter tortures,
daunted by ill-wills!
Obsessed
with dark roaring whirlwinds!
Every moment
terrified of dearth-difficulties!
It's an age
of pitiless assaults,
intolerable insidious talks!
Of inexperienced pain,
lost human sensitivity!
Of unseen pitch-dark gloom!
Of queer
hullabaloo,
bloody cruel deadly
morn!
[29] CONSEQUENCE
Life-long
insulted, hated
life if had drifted away
from the track –
easy,
no surprise.
Life-long hopeless
always moving in the eddy of doubt
defeated life
is continuously aflame –
easy;
no surprise.
Life-long
lived in wants
life dragging in dearth,
if all at once
it burns –
easy,
no surprise.
[30] COMMITTED
We’ll give voice
of challenge
to the dumb,
of victory and faith,
of cheerful light of future,
of new hope!
We’ll elevate
the life of all
equally and liberate this earth
from exploitation,
by abolishing the disparity
of colour and creed
free the people of the world
from extortion!
We’re committed
to a righteous system,
ready to alter
the horrified world!
[31] NEW LIGHT
O! crushed shattered
life!
Raise head.
I’ve come
like your victory
the Himalayas
of meaningful
instinctive faith!
Full of faithlessness
lost in dark dejection
wearied
desolate life!
Raise head
See
I, the lustrous sun
of your fate,
knock at the door!
Life will not split
like this!
Life
will not disperse
like this!
[32] THE FIRMAMENT WILL CHANGE ITS COLOUR
No more shall the dark shroud
Envelop our heads!
And within moments
The firmament
will change its colour!
The 'Malay breeze'1 is beckoning
Capering and dancing!
On every bough / On every leaf
A new awakening is blazing
And world's history takes a turn.
Gone are the paths of dreadful darkness
And gone are the pain ridden tragic ages,
Descends on Earth an age of light golden!
The musing Earth is moving,
The inert world vibrates with new song
Every corner resounds
The night is over,
The night is over!
The long awaited golden morn
Stands at the door
And offers to every heart
Presents of zeal and joy!
From the world will banish
The dense darkness of sufferings,
And the close atmosphere of dejection heavy!
Surely will
the firmament take a new colour!
1 A breeze coming from the
direction of mountain Malay — a
mountain of India, out of seven main mountains. There is a luxuriant growth of sandal trees on Malay mountain.
[33] LIGHT
May the future of man —
From the darkness,
From the ever-spreading fear of cold war
Be free, be absolutely free!!
May the rays of pure reason
Spread far and wide,
May the forces hostile to progress
Be torn to shreds
May the society from class and colour distinction,
And the man from man's bondage
Be free, be absolutely free!!
Let not the new mental horizon
Be overcast
By whirlwind, dust and lightning
Never, Oh Never!!
Nor let the crest of the new order
Crash and crumble down!
Let the pious divine efforts,
And the yearnings for world peace,
Adorn the Earth like golden dawn,
And redeem the world afflicted
And caress with love and affection,
Let not the pollen of new feelings
Be scorched and consumed by fire!
From the destructive power of various weapons
From the venomous and the devilish hate campaigns
May the modern civilization
Be safe, be absolutely safe!!
[34] LIFE TODAY
The smile of life has withered away,
And dark clouds shroud the Moon!
The night stands denuded of its beauty,
As if the belle widowed has been!
Stands robbed the spring of human happiness,
And all the flower and foliage are fallen!
Blasted lie the flowing fields,
The sand-storm blew so cruel!
Heart rending seems every dream,
And aspirations on all sides are being crushed!
Crumbled are the customs of the present world,
The path of love lies twisted and turned!
Stands intact only the forest of motives selfish,
Housed where in are the dacoits' dens!
Every where is playing the funeral music,
And coffins colourful are being arranged!
Constrained are we to lie down there,
Fatigued and broken by pain!
So much has life been crippled,
It falls and staggers in state of paralysis!
[35] THE MIDDLE
CLASS — 1
Overcast is the sky!
Prevails all around
The thick darkness
One feels after closing the eyes.
Birds are calm and quiet
Resting cozily in their nests,
And from every mansion
Are pouring forth pleasant notes
From Piano or 'Tanpura'1
But under the leaking roof
From the pangs of recent child-birth
Groans a mother
Yet the life of man,
Is undying
Nay — is springing forth as ever!
1 A musical instrument of four strings.
[36] THE MIDDLE
CLASS- 2
It's ten O'clock in the night
Distantly are heard
The discordant drum-beats of a marriage party!
And at a high pitch the Radio Ceylon is blurting out!
The stale and insipid film-songs
either from 'Aaan'1 or 'Barsaat'2!
And in the house nearby,
Half-asleep and bored
A maid, thirty-year old
Lies restless in bed
Dreaming and thinking of her beloved,
Her father, a clerk poor,
In a heap of files drowned,
(Caught in the labyrinth of life!)
Pauses to think —
'Far advanced is the night
Tomorrow shall I look into the rest.'
His eye-lids are heavy with sleep
As he dreams of days carefree of childhood!
1 An Indian film in Hindi.
2 An Indian film in Hindi.
[37] THE FUTURE
On man's future path
Reigns the limitless darkness,
Reigns the thick darkness!
No moon nor sun visible,
Not even alarm-trumpet is heard!
On the cliff of death
Stands the hushed humanity,
Staggering off and on!
The Earth is terribly trembling
With blasts of atom and hydrogen bombs!
Island after island is vanishing
And cities almost all,
Ever dreaming the tragedy of 'Hiroshima'!
On the vast expanse of the sky
Plays the flame with lurid fire,
Smoke, Smoke, all around!
On man's future path
Bright light is needed,
The flood light is needed!
In place of sand dunes precarious
We need a solid concrete dam!
So that Man may have a firm footing,
In the face of storms
And Man may resist on
Strong, valiant and patient!
Nor let there be any
groans and sighs!
Let every man laugh
A laughter — white and pure!
And let hopes bloom
Of a future happy and glorious!
[38] TO MY PEN
O Pen mine !
Move on the canvas of time
So as fear-lorn shredded world
Is built up anew !
Dismantled, skeletal, dismayed
Man’s dried up veins
Are infused with life-blood !
O Pen mine ! move -
To the asleep
Harbinger the rising sun !
And to the stranded
Make path newly lighted !
To the caravan
That is restless,
bent up under sands,
To it give ever ascendant
New vigour !
To the scared
Give unshaken faith !
Light up face in tears
With silvery laugh !
O Pen mine ! move —
That the atrocious world’s
Strong iron-fetters
are all shattered,
And culture-civilization statues all
From the tyrants’ deadly cruel clutches
Are freed for good !
On debris
Give new creation clarion call,
Give to each person’s throat
A forceful dulcet song of toil!
In every heart
Fill love-ocean,
To the bedimmed eye
Give light in every family!
[39] NOT ALONE
I am not alone,
Not alone am I,
The resurgent age is with me
And I too on my part
Zealously keep pace with it!
Innumerable arms lend me strength,
And freely draw upon
My energy untiring!
Myriads of men around me
Are constantly on the march,
Advancing on and on!
Along the thorough fare of liberty
There's no despair,
There's no despair,
Nor helplessness any!
No obstacles can stand
The upsurge popular
All are being swept away!
Has snow melted away
On some Himalayan peak?
Soil new is being created,
Fearless, peaceful habitations new are emerging!
Green, red, yellow and rosy gardens
Are in full bloom to-day!
Man is being initiated into humanity,
And sunken cheeks
And the long fallen faces
Their cheerfulness have regained!
Keep pace with that life
And cheerfully
Attune yourself to that life!
[40] INVINCIBLE
.
Youth of the age can’t be defeated!
.
Organized people’s consciousness
and a will to create new,
Age old devotion
of the proletariat,
A happy dream of man,
His hope-mansion for peace,
And life’s sky
filled with redness of dawn,
Have you heard the story of their destruction?
.
Feet — as hard as steel,
Fought the storms,
Moved not an inch
Stand firm like the mountain,
Challenge the enemy,
fight and kill,
Sacrifice life for duty,
The vibrant youth, never goes weary!
.
Invoking the strength,
Inspiring the soul —
Hearing that,
swells the chest of the weak in pride,
And shows the path in darkness,
Echoes in all directions,
Tells the stars
The message of revolution,
The voice of mass salvation can’t be stopped!
[41] WITH FLAGS OF PEACE
No matter
how vigorous
The drum-beat of war
may be
We shall hold fast
The banner of peace
aloft!
And the suppression of
the voice of peace
We shall not allow!
From the dawn of history
We have faith
in peace and humanity,
Gautam and Gandhi
are dearest to our hearts!
Molesting anyone
is sin for us,
We come not in any body's way
Quarrels we do not pick,
World friendship and mutual love
Is our message eternal,
Enough affection have we
For the tormented and destructed world!
Our hands
will uplift the down-trodden,
And we shall save
millions of down-cast
mute molested
fear-stricken injured
sisters
from the cruel clutches of the devils!
We love
smiles of children innocent;
Alluring are the folk-songs
of the shepherds and farmers!
We shall never let these songs of mirth
Turn into
painful sighs and groans!
Nor let the smiles be blood-stained!
We pledge
we shall never let the lightning crash
on the innocent dreams
of Resurgent Man!
[42] REAP THE PADDY
Reap the paddy, mow the paddy
Mow on, reap on!!
All the fields to the vision's end
Are full and mature!
So ripe and full!!
Rustling and surging
With glee overbrimming!
Flow with the air
And laugh like blooms,
Get up
and quit the old hovels
Comrade!
the open fields are beckoning you!
Reap the paddy, mow the paddy
Mow on, reap on!!
Water trickled
through the glaciers,
And ran
in many rapid restless currents
Carrying along the alluvial dust,
Down the heights of the Himalayas.
The dust drenched
in sweat of labour,
Shot up in the bowers and on boughs
Blossoms
white, red and yellow
The gracious Mother Earth
Blesses you with a life-long and happy!
Reap the paddy, mow the paddy
Mow on, reap on!!
When the monsoon clouds
dark and dense
Enveloped the sky
and hovered over head,
The dry bowers of heart
Were drenched with hopes divine,
With abandon and delight!
As if,
The beautiful
white - 'Kajal'1-applied eyes
Of a pretty, healthy, sweet, delicate mellow maid
Bedecked with lustre bewitching
Over brimming with live emotions new!
And dreams of simple life,
Sing the song of a world reborn!
Reap the paddy, mow the paddy
Mow on, reap on!!
The seeds sown
by your labour devout
For the world's resurgence and remarking
Have come to blossom!
The fond dreams
nurtured in the lap of eye-lids
Those seeds now find fulfilment and fruition
And embrace these myriad spikes
And play with abandon in the cool moon-light!
Be up and doing,
Hear O! you master of the vast land
From Kanyaa-Kumari to mountain Kailash!
Hear and hail the new upsurge!
Behold the families all of the village,
Find the fruition of their dreams!
Reap the paddy, mow the paddy,
Mow on, reap on!!
The teeth
are fallen
Hair
are dry and dull,
Yet in the wrinkles of the face
There dances a smile —
easy and natural!
The fragrance
embraces the whole universe
The sky drips with odour sweet!
Wake up!
the pride of my land!
Reap the paddy, mow the paddy
Mow on reap on!!
1 A preparation made out of the soot of an earthen lamp burning mustard oil and applied to the eyes by an overwhelming majority of Indian women.
[43] COVERED THE FACE
.
The smoke bathes the entire city !
The furnaces and the hearths burn,
To see the child,
the birds visit!
The woman, hidden,
coughs nearby,
A face beautiful and gentle once
was close to the heart of one beloved!
The face of hers
drenched in smoke,
The rosy face
lost in eyes deep!
.
No complaint from life now,
No sweet dreams of world she has,
Stoops with shyness!
.
Dipping in smoke
For years numberless —
Sheds the ocean of tears
of the Gangaa and Yamunaa !
She covers the face under
the tattered hem!
But now from east
peeps the shining lamp,
and the cheerful ray sings
the end of the painful moment!
[44] THE INVINCIBLE
I am never defeated!
Why do you prevent me?
Why do you intervene me?
The fire of desperation flares
Why do you throw me in?
Immortal is my breath
Eternal is my every roar!
I do not like to pause,
I do not feel fatigued,
Bearing thousands of attacks
I do not know to bend!
The life moves every moment
with the world full of power!
I advance amidst storm,
Having flame of revolution in breath,
I am getting boon
at every step in courageous sacrifice!
The boat may be caught in the whirl
the rudder in order is my courage!
[45] FOR THE FIRST TIME
The common folk have gathered strength
And shaken the slumber,
For the first time in World's History,
And they have risen in revolt
As never before!
Breaking away from the age-old beaten track
Fighting against the huge rocky barrier
And the most powerful current,
Side tracking thus
The desolate thorny hilly tract
And many such hurdles
Did the people's current cross
Then it flowed down
To the plain of human life
Seasoned with experience and courage of conviction!
For the first time creepers colourful
Have sprung up all around
And the parochial boundaries of all lands
Are rendered dim and all dim
In the colourful glare of these boughs!
It's because
Burns in every bosom the spark,
The live, red-hot spark of restive agony
The cataclysmic force that
Will bring about a World new
Unity of action for the first time is there,
And therefore has survived every adverse blow!
Gone never to return are
Many angry, roaring storms of fire
No inkling we had.
The new age is busy struggling
For the rights of all,
The coming years will follow suit,
The world will stand guard
On rights of all people!
From California's Death-valley
From Kalahari, Sahara
Abyssinia and Tundra
Has disappeared the dark night of ignorance
All quarters are illumined with lights new
Peoples of all countries are up,
To construct the world anew
In a variety of ways
A variety of countries thus
Are no longer idle and helpless
Discovered they have
The new device of building
A happy paradise unfettered and free!
The World entire belongs to all nations,
None is alienated, nor any longer
Is it a far-fetched dream.
Gone for ever is
The worn-out life before Revolution
In the face of firm faith
Nations all nurtured by injustice
Have banished been forth with.
The fading lamps are kindled again
Affection of the age the lamps receive,
And joyously flicker freely.
Life's cloudy night is armed with lighting
Whenever his feet falter
The torch lights up the way
And into focus is brought
The road of common man's life.
Destroyed is the darkness
Banished from the path.
The reign of terror is over
No king is there,
Nor is there a beggar,
Those neglected so far for generations
Are harking to the call of revolt,
For the first time the World is so wide!
For the first time the sacrifice is so vast!
[46] HOW LIFE CHANGES
This is a thatch of straw,
Whose broken old walls,
And half opened roof,
In this night,
which is very cold
Standing silent, engulfed in darkness!
Some three living beings, breath here,
who have not accepted defeat till now!
Lying on the earth,
They wear rags and become a bundle,
get momentum from self inflamed life
In the clouds of smoke
take warm breaths.
And pierce by pressing
its strong heart!
Though the wall is weak,
but the hope is not weak,
Faith is not dim
and strong voice has not been arrested,
Tomorrow you see
how the life changes!
[47] WOMAN REBORN
You aren't a purse-purchased commodity of man,
Nor are you the soulless slave girl,
The brainless hand-maid and the lifeless doll.
No longer are you the age-old
Down-trodden footwear of man,
Not a source of pleasure and pastime any more
Frailty is not thy name,
A bed of roses you desire not.
Nor are you caught in the whirl-pool any more
But banks distant you adorn now,
No longer shall injustice crush you,
New power and zeal of the time is with you;
Your hands are now free from chains!
Prison social or personal confines you not,
Nor does man dominate your mind and body
That you submit to his whims
And utter not a complaint even by chance!
On behalf of the youths millions of the world
I speak, not as your lord, but as a friend;
I simply wish to bind you
With bonds silken of eternal love!
[48] TORCH (Mashaal)
Strings of life have scattered,
Doors closed, feet blocked,
eyes can't be opened,
as the sky is mocking,
facing again and again!
Melody-rhythm all broken,
The fire of life extinguishes, too,
intense darkness rushes dashing!
Smoke and smoke
spreads today over the world!
Having the strength of iron
who can endure assaults,
he can live!
The society — that is united in linked chains,
verdant with the feelings of affection and love,
can struggle and fight with storms!
The torch of fresh flame
burning in street to street today,
darkness is dispersed,
to liberate the impatient and distressed world.
infallible steady voice echoes!
The strong head of Man
with rage,
is arising like image!
[49] THE SUMMER
Heated sky, heated earth, heated every particle of the earth!
Intense blaze spreads over the afflicted dried distant fields,
Every fenced field is charred, by the whirl-winds and simooms
The space from sky to earth is shining with diffusing light of the sun!
Men and women with dry grass, far from their decaying huts
Go with heated body, never disheartened,
Who reared this world, is drenched with sweat,
having weary feet and wet eyes!
Under the electric fans with the doors of the mansion shut,
Lying with sleepy eyes in the watered room with khas1 -curtains,
These exploiters know not how to feel burning sensations,
having all kinds of resources at their service?
Disease-striken, hungry, half naked, down trodden, disregarded, weak children,
Ill, sad house-wife, whose youth decays continuously,
During hot mid-day carry baskets of clay, with cracked heels!
[50] WOMAN
O, Long deprived, pitiable, sad, prisoner! you jumped up in the battle field,
Taking the oath of youth, you are co-operating with the world-wide lament,
Your sharp sight is flared as burning embers in the darkness
of the age,
The world trembled, the new age awoke in the lives of wounded suffering persons!
Till now only with scattered hair remained companion of mud and smoke,
Spent the days of utter distress with tears in eyes,
Always ignored, the world booted out you like an animal,
Now you arose like blazing sun and came out as curse-hitter!
You will create horrible turmoil
by offering of sacrifices,
Your struggle will not stop, you will shake the universe,
Have to pay price to you, as heavy debt of previous life is due,
Otherwise, you will reduce to dust this palace of new age today!
You have come to create new history of equality, and independence,
You have come to set out fire the pyre of exploitation,
The youth of the world is with you Change all the ancient legislation,
You have come to eradicate all the barriers of class differences today!
Far too many poems for me to read at this juncture. However, I did read a couple of them and find the dichotomy in the first one quite similar to my thinking about people: half of the people are positive providers, and the other half are, for various reasons, users of resources without putting back.
Your form about disasters describes a world that seems to be coming more real all the time.
This is my personal inspirational book of poetry. It contains many poems written for family, friends, and relevant life situations. Hopefully you will find some that will encourage and inpsire you in whatever arena you are found in your circle of l
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Your form about disasters describes a world that seems to be coming more real all the time.
Ron