MOTHER INDIA

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
Kashmiri 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, Krishna 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 Mahatma's
Philosophy of non-violence

Today your children
Are shedding your
Dhotis and Kurtas
For Jeans and Nike
Clamoring aimlessly
For western toys
For rock, rap and MTV
Replacing AmitaBh 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.

~ Norman Datt ~

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