I started writing about India –
My India,
Mother India!
When a cry came within,
Asking me to find and explore
The biggest confusion in the air:
What do I write about India –
My India,
Mother India?
Should I write about the fields,
And the crops it yields?
Or should I write about the farmers,
Whose wounds are never healed?
Should I write about the bungalows,
Where Ambani and Jindal resides?
Or should I write about the slums,
Where ten people hide in one room?
Should I write about the highways
And the fully-lit streets?
Or should I write about the poor,
Who have no food to eat?
Should I write about the Taj Mahal,
And the other forts and tombs?
Or should I write about the traitors,
Who kill their girls in the womb?
Should I write about Kamakhya,
The goddess who bleeds?
Or the ladies who are put in the cowshed,
When they are about to breed?
Should I write about the Navratis,
And the tradition to worship little girls?
Or should I write about those women,
Who are allegedly raped and murdered?
Should I write about Kalpana Chawla,
The Indian lady who went to space?
Or should I write about Bhanwari Devi,
And some other Dalit rape cases?
Should I write about the ladies,
Who march on the Republic day?
Or should I write about the brothers going to schools,
While, at home, their sisters stay?
Should I write about Radhe Krishna,
The holy symbol of love?
Or should I write about those couples,
Killed in the name of honour?
Should I write about the rules,
Which say that everybody is equal?
Or should I write about those homosexual persons,
Who have no platform to express their love?
And as I try to write more,
There is more confusion in the air –
What should I write about India?
How do I write about India –
My India,
Mother India?