Democracy Cries in the Corner

Today, my heart hangs in shame,
not because of what we could have achieved,
but because of what we have become.
My heart bleeds and seethes, searching for a trace of honesty
in this tainted, hate-filled world,
when I think the lofty heights we could have reached
only to be reminded of the abyss to which we continue to sink.

King o’ king, thy people chose you to bring them good ol’ days.
But you kept reminding us of the “glorious” days we live.
When the truth’s sheep are put behind jail.
the wielders of truth stagnate in jail,
Wasn’t them that you promised to keep safe?
you spoke about the magnificent words of the constitution,
Then why do I breathe the anarchy in the air?
You pledged us, asked us not to forsake the grandeur of our history,
So why do your people continue to unleash hell on it?

Everything stems out from the seeds of insecurity,
What you have today, may tomorrow be gone.
There will be someone who’ll outshine you,
Someone on a righteous path, who know the extent of our true history,
A history that’s clad onto our souls and wired in our brains and
Not just a symbolic saffron shawl.
We resist the anarchy, we make a haven
For those who chose to live with us,
For those whose heart bleeds blue,
Papers and identity were long established, none that matters to you
For all that’s ever mattered is bulldozing.
Bulldozing your way through homes and hearts
forged by sweat, tears and blood.

Activists were condemned in all spheres of totalitarian,
Spied, bullied and auctioned…yet they resist
Because their identity is at risk,
Because the whole country is at risk
The risk of losing it to people who’ve already lost a part of them.
And from the fear of their courage, the jail, the cases follow
The excesses of police brutality ensues.

When something as simple as an outfit threatens you,
Rattles you the courage of young schoolers,
know you’re damned
Damned beyond redemption,
beyond the shackles of your twisted brains.

Tomorrow, the power will be handed over,
Falsify the past, delude the now,
But when the future asks for accountability,
History will watch right through the nakedness of your lies.

Hemant Thakur is a student of engineering at BMSCE, Bangalore. He is an avid enthusiast for whatever’s fun. Take him for trips, embrace the silence with him, feed him good food and he’d be your friend from the first go.

The featured image is an illustration by Pariplab Chakraborty. To view more such illustrations, click here.