Deshnayak Poem by Ajit Das

As the guns fell silent,
bombers were taxied to the hangars,
fire ceased to rain from the sky,
marching steps of heavy squads returned to the barracks,
passive resistance that seemed to have worn out
failed to weave its spell again;
confusion abounded; future course uncertain, uncharted.
.
At that time of dithering came flashing the heroic deeds
of freedom struggle waged outside the country.
It electrified the imagination of the countless masses.
The trial of the INA soldiers aroused anger of the nation,
causing disaffection in the ruler's Army as well.
Its loyalty being a suspect, the edifice of the empire crumbled.

The tri-colour flag was hoisted on the Red Fort;
the new dispensation of a free country started its journey,
but forgot to honour the true, towering hero Netaji
whose voice boomed with the message of freedom
from across the border, his fighting Army
becoming so much central to the making of the nation.

His image looms on the horizon every year on his birthday,
perhaps pricking the conscience of the powers that be.
His ever saluting posture needs no refurbishing
of an honorific bestowed by the roulette of politics.
Deshnayak lives and is alive in our collective consciousness.

*Deshnayak - hero of the nation - a poem on
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose