My Upanishadic Birdie Pie 6 Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

Birdie Pie continues her chatter:

'At night, we feel secure behind
the lush green leaves and the thick, dark branches!
No one can see us
But we can see others from this tree.'

As the bird spoke, I realised that it echoed
A line from the ‘Atharva Veda'!
'The world is borderless - like a tree.'
All the countries of this world are its branches.
My little black and white bird-pie was no ordinary bird.
She was well versed in the Vedas and the Upanishads!

Could the birdie be my real teacher in the garb
of a winged being? I wondered!

The little bird trying to read my thoughts continued.
'You see, it is in your world and your country
That you make so many divisions!
You have countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan,
And many, many, many more!
Within your country itself,
You are divided into so many parts!
As the years go by,
India is getting divided and separated-
Into small, small States, Why? "

The birdie-pie began to talk again.

'You are not content with Himachal Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Now, you have Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and
Chhatisgarh added to the list in Northern India.
The South India too has begun its division with
Telugu desam:
Are You going back to the old centuries? "
Ancient India had numerous kings and queens
with innumerable kingdoms.
It must have taken marathon effort,
By the leaders of your country to unify India into one!
How come you are dividing it again into bits? '

I was speechless.
My friend flapped both her wings and flew away!