Independence Day 2016 In India - Long Live My Nation - India! Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Long live those memories in the minds and hearts of our children
when of freedom and independence they will speak or think
as no invaders they have to fight now,
no more rulers they have to obey;
had our nation lived throughout in freedom
no greater history or leaders we would have known
no greater pride we would have levered
though with our painful but courageous past
we now reconcile.
Be grateful to Gandhi, Nehru and to all our national heroes
who gifted to us this reward of freedom,
be grateful to them for this lasting gift of independence
as with tranquility we can live and breathe
in our own country and not elsewhere as refugees;
be grateful to all our Prime Ministers and Presidents,
the army and the navy who uphold our gift of freedom
and as they work hard not to allow anyone else
to re-invade our nation
be grateful to your own self
that though there is diversity
in our religion, caste and cultures
together we choose to stand today
and sing aloud our National Anthem;
No God is greater than the God we hold
within the temple of our mind for worship,
no nation is smaller than the the heart
which holds love within itself and still loves others.
And though many are our states and cities
brotherhood and compassion is supreme
in our practice and existence;
and though every state speaks a language of its own
every other Indian understands its message
and conveys it to another
with oneness of thought and unity in speculation;
and though many pathways of struggles our nation has crossed
many roads of patience and tolerance it has walked
over those years of invasions,
battles and sacrifices so vivid
as none can forget the Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy
neither the Rebellious Mutiny;
many lives lost as freedom was gained,
a silent cry, a silent joy in every small endeavour
till freedom arrived on that August morning.
And though over those many years
the colonist had taken whatever they could....
which branches have no mangoes on our trees in the summers now?
which fields has no rice grains sowed in the monsoons showers?
which child has no education in courage in our country corners?
Ours is that nation still full of abundance,
who says God did not provision for us much more
that today our population though huge
feeds upon the grace of our nation's grit
that every child today can shout aloud with vivacity
Long live my country India, long live my Freedom! .