Skip to main content

Endless Kurukshetra

Sanjay had nothing new to report
And Dritarashtra was becoming impatient
Listening to the same old stories
Repeated ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

OK, not that there are no differences.
Draupatis are not just undressed now,
They are raped and even killed.
Even the soldiers do it in the land of suspected terrorists -
In what was the paradise on the earth.

Terrorists lay siege to progress of all sorts,
Their God alone knows what they want.
We know that they have concealed the face of every Draupati
Behind the veil of ignorance and obscurity.

Even the Durga Shakti genuflects before a sand mafia.
Mafias are guarded by the kings and their minions.
Kings build palaces of twenty-seven storeys.
Indraprastha is a jungle of concrete and avarice.

The Babas of Indraprastha speak words of gold,
Each lecture brings them millions of dollars;
Their queens suck their lust in the night
And go conquering lands in the daytime.

Karma-yogis have become kaama-yogis.
The warrior is in relentless battle for his own sake.
Ah, here's something for a change, said Sanjay with some joy,
The citizens are going to celebrate Independence.

Independence!
Exclaimed Dritarashtra.
Can recalcitrant barnacles stuck to slimy rocks
Be free?








Comments

  1. Very good attempt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Nivedita. Attempts are better than doing nothing :)

      Delete
  2. Very Nice Poem . . . And yes I also feel the Same about . . .The citizens are going to celebrate Independence.. Ironic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Independence Day celebration is just another ritual that we have got used to!

      Delete
  3. Wow, I should say it's enchanting and I was visualizing the whole thing in my head as I read it. Your poem(if that's what we call it)raises a question in the end, the general masses in our country have been bred in such a way that they are habituated to complaining and blaming their leaders. Even the freedom obtained was given not earned. India today would have been way different had we fought and earned our independence by getting chasing the Britishers out. But what Gandhi Ji taught was don't listen, create havoc by non-corporation and leave everything you are doing and stall every progress around you.This got us our freedom, so this still goes on proudly as a ritual in India when somebody is not happy.How can we be free when we never knew what freedom really is?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Freedom is a responsibility. We, in India especially, refuse to understand that. As Sartre said, "we are condemned to freedom." Freedom is not a right, it is a condemnation, a condemnation to take up responsibility for ourselves... We can't place the blame on anyone, not even Gandhi...

      Delete
    2. What would be a solution? I understand we cannot blame no one for our miseries, but what the next step, as an individual, what should one do? where should he start and where should he go? I was wondering

      Delete
    3. Every individual has only ONE duty: live his/her life as best as he/she can.

      Delete
  4. Brilliant lines....compelled to ponder again and again

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sanjay. The reporter in the poem, as in Mahabharata, happens to be your namesake.

      Delete
  5. That made me sad. The important thing is to keep speaking out. If we could unite and do so, maybe one day, we will be able to take it a step further than just protesting. As long as our actions are within the law we won't compound the issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A writer is not an activist. A writer is often an armchair protester. If you are familiar enough with the Indian situation you'll understand that a writer can do little more India.

      Delete
  6. well.. Sir ji.. one thing I admire the most about you ..a comment is replied in the same mood :D hahaha I so much feel content :D ..
    anyways , coming to the post Sir, so appropriately related .. this was .. reminded me of 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' starring Om Puri,Pankaj Kapoor , Naseeruddin and many more classic theater actors ..
    Dhritarashtras are not solely responsible .. I feel..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jack, I'm a teacher primarily. A teacher answers doubts and questions according to the capability of the student. That's why the comments have their own 'individual' "mood". :)

      Dritarashtra was blind - like most Kings and Administrators. Sanjay was an honest reporter.

      Has the situation in Indraprastha (today's Delhi) changed from those days? OK, let me keep the rest for some othe rtime.

      Delete
  7. Replies
    1. Thanks, Saurabh. Happy that you're becoming regular here.

      Delete
  8. Thanks, Niranjan, for this pleasant surprise. It's nice to know that one's writing is appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 'Can recalcitrant barnacles stuck to slimy rocks be free?' Lovely line!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I must have been inspired by Richard Bach's opening tale in 'Illusions'. If you've read the novel, you'll remember the creatures in that story remaining stuck to the bottom of the stream and calling out to the one who dared to float, "Saviour, save us!"

      Delete
  10. Yes, we live in a very depressing world.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In this Wonderland

I didn’t write anything in the last few days. Nor did I feel any urge to write. I don’t know if this lack of interest to write is what’s called writer’s block. Or is it simple disenchantment with whatever is happening around me? We’re living in a time that offers much, too much, to writers. The whole world looks like a complex plot for a gigantic epic. The line between truth and fiction has disappeared. Mass murders have become no-news. Animals get more compassion than fellow human beings. Even their excreta are venerated! Folk tales are presented as scientific truths while scientific truths are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. When the young generation in Nepal set fire to their Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, they were making an unmistakable statement: that they are sick of their political leaders and their systems. Is there any country whose leaders don’t sicken their citizens? I’m just wondering. Maybe, there are good leaders still left in a few coun...

Death as a Sculptor

Book Discussion An Introductory Note : This is not a book review but a reflection on one of the many themes in The Infatuations , novel by Javier Marias. If you have any intention of reading the novel, please be forewarned that this post contains spoilers. For my review of the book, without spoilers, read an earlier post: The Infatuations (2013). D eath can reshape the reality for the survivors of the departed. For example, a man’s death can entirely alter the lives of his surviving family members: his wife and children, particularly. That sounds like a cliché. Javier Marias’ novel, The Infatuations , shows us that death can alter a lot more; it can reshape meanings, relationships, and even morality of the people affected by the death. Miguel Deverne is killed by an abnormal man right in the beginning of the novel. It seems like an accidental killing. But it isn’t. There are more people than the apparently insane killer involved in the crime and there are motives which are di...

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl

When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship? Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru , the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu. How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj , especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his o...

Whose Rama?

Book Review Title: Whose Rama? [Malayalam] Author: T S Syamkumar Publisher: D C Books, Kerala Pages: 352 Rama may be an incarnation of God Vishnu, but is he as noble a man [ Maryada Purushottam ] as he is projected to be by certain sections of Hindus? This is the theme of Dr Syamkumar’s book, written in Malayalam. There is no English translation available yet. Rama is a creation of the Brahmins, asserts the author of this book. The Ramayana upholds the unjust caste system created by Brahmins for their own wellbeing. Everyone else exists for the sake of the Brahmin wellbeing. If the Kshatriyas are given the role of rulers, it is only because the Brahmins need such men to fight and die for them. Valmiki’s Rama too upheld that unjust system merely because that was his Kshatriya-dharma, allotted by the Brahmins. One of the many evils that Valmiki’s Rama perpetrates heartlessly is the killing of Shambuka, a boy who belonged to a low caste but chose to become an ascetic. The...