Indian Writing In English Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

Indian writing in English not,
But it is British planning and strategy
Of the colony
As English spoke we not,
Just in course of time
It came up and grew
As a connecting language
Of the exotic and impregnable India,
A vast and varied stretch of land
Almost continental.

Now we talk in English, write in English,
Think of becoming poets and dramatists
Just to keep up,
Match with the foreign audience
And we could not have
Had the capitals not adapted to
English traditions and norms
And they as because merit was therein
In European culture,
Advancement and life-strengthening medicines
Which but we cannot negate it.

Deriving the ideas from British masters,
We think of becoming
Journalists and feature writers,
Tuning to the radio and broadcasts
We think of becoming linguists and newsreaders
Tight-lipped in pronunciation
And emulation,
Dressing like in suite and boots
Like Gandhi of the early years
And Nehru in the coat with a red rose
After getting education from foreign.

In India slates and pencils had not been,
The lanterns too were not
And even if without kerosene oil,
The note-books for to write on
Were not,
The girls not allowed for education,
The white ants used to destroy it all
In the mud houses
And you are talking of becoming
And English in India,
What to say to you?

Modernity and life-style, how to live,
How to stand financially strong,
How to manage and plan,
How to sidetrack the astrologers,
Horoscope-makers, soothsayers and palmists,
How to rebel against witch-hunting
And to voice against superstitions,
All these they have learnt from
The British,
Whatever say we now?