Republic Day Poem-Dilemma Of Survival Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Did they ever try to find out
how often turns the potter's wheel
and what his family eats or how they live
and why they are still clinging
to that hand to mouth way of life?
or did they ever try to know
why the oppressed people keep
running behind pillars
to hide themselves from the wrath
that can fall upon them
if they want to uplift themselves,
in positions and privileges?
Did they ever try to find out
why there are streams of beggars
on those smog covered streets
wanting to survive
when their lungs are weeping?
Did they ever try to help
those villagers while their water streams
have gone dry leaving them in famine
with no crops for yield?
did they ever try to curb suicides
of those farmers who are unable
to pay their loans
due to scanty rains and bad harvests?
Did they ever go to those lanes
to see how poverty has played its game
subverting their progress and development
that their slums have turned into
corrugated residences with stink and murk
pushing its way through those glaring drainages?
Have they ever tried to delete the havoc
that wrecks the jobless and the beggar
which has made them sleep hungry
on unswept streets and pavements
and keep themselves warm in the winter
when by the fireplace they sit and shiver?
Have they ever tried to know
why the death tolls keep rising
though doctors and new hospitals
are abundant in our country?
How much these eyes pain
to see ourselves walking
in the shoe-marks of yesterday;
as we wake up to another day, another morning
in the midst of plentiful progress
where many buildings, many hotels,
broadened roads, many cars
many tourists, many airports,
makes the poor visibility of these pupils
open wide in bewilderment
as I walk with my same old shoulder-bag
to my work-place to earn the same salary
and feed the same morsels to my family
week after week till I die;
and as my steps take me around the parade ground
I find myself walking tall with pride
in this Republic where each one lives
fighting the dilemma of survival
and it fills my heart with silent joy
as I see our Army and Navy unfurl our flag
as I see little children rushing to school
to get free education and mid-day meals,
my mind fills with constellation of solace
that today my nation, my countrymen
are qualified and independent
as they have taught themselves
to be self sufficient and responsible
be he a grocer, a baker or a sweeper
by mutual benefits and employment;
and as they live, they build
their dream houses, their future grids;
they even travel the whole wide world
by planes, by cars, by grace of God
that only a nation like ours
where the rich and poor
the famous and unknown vibe together
and extend a helping hand
enabling one another to live, work, eat, sleep
and cast away the dilemma of survival.