The Sun Will Rise Again

The sun will rise again
Shining grace on all alike
The ice shall thaw
And the rivers of life shall flow again
The flowers shall blossom
And the ancient trees shall bear the sweet fruits again.

The sun will shine on the horizon of eternity
Brighter than before
These clouds are transient
These storms desultory
The sun will pierce through
the layers of obscurity
And the darkness shall dispel.

A night’s gloom doesn’t count in the long march of history
Winter’s bare branches don’t despair the buds of spring
The beauty of the Taj was sculpted for the times of longing
And from this longing will rise new bastions of prosperity.

The sun will rise again
It has gone down, momentarily,
To usher in another dawn
With the promise of a rainbow
Much colourful than before
The learnings of Nalanda
Shall illumine the streams again
And the valleys shall again, reap the harvest of diversity!
The Chakras of justice will roll once more
And the Stupas of peace will reign again.

The sun will remain on the horizon of eternity
And no desperate blows
Of the breathless millions
Can extinguish its fire!
And no vain clouds,
However deluding and ominous,
Can keep the sun from blazing through!
We shall rekindle the torch of love
And illuminate our ancient nation
With the rays of a new dawn
And the world shall see!
The sun will rise again
And the world shall see!

Shafaat Shahbandari is journalist, writer and poet based in Bangalore. He is the founder of Thousand Shades of India, an alternative media platform that celebrates the diversity of India and its unsung heroes through documentaries, photo essays and long-reads.

Featured image: Rachel Cook/Unsplash