The Hallowed Past Poem by UMESH KUMAR SINGH

Proud of my country's hallowed past
I recollected its greatness when I am downcast
To the world Aryabhatta zero provided;
Thus India's rank on the highest pedestal coincided.
Buddha preached non-violence and the middle path;
And showed to the world how
The seeds of all sufferings in cravings did lie.
Mahavira embodied the essence
Of the truth non-violence and a life pure
That could ensure a passage to salvation secure.

II

The accounts of Megasthenese and Fa Hien
The testimony to the greatness of my country bear.
History had such a great king in Porous*
That, though robbed of his crown, without fear,
Could proclaim his claim to his honour royal.
The ruins of universities of Nalanda and Vikramashila
To the world a message spread,
That India towered above all,
When spreading knowledge came to the fore.
In Bharata you find a brother's love's play,
That renounced his kingdom as clay.
Does the world have the likes of Bharatha?
That withstood the ensnares of the regal pleasures,
And his brother's paduka** on the throne (in his own place) did put.
And in this way earned a singular grace.

III

Poesy through Kalidas' quill did flow,
Its richness everyone's mind does give a blow.
The exuberance of his poetic gift did glow,
And his works stand unsurpassed in poetic richness galore.
Such a person you should nowhere find
As history doesn't have such a kind.
India did produce great patriots,
That to the gallows went,
Laughing and chanting mother India's name,
So that the mother India could the air of freedom breathe.

IV

Valour's minion Kuer singh rode his horse
And fearlessly killed his country's foes.
And parted with his arm when got a gun's shot,
Cut and gave it to the Ganges.
Laxmibai and Rana Pratap's name in the books of history glow,
For they did all that one to his motherland could do,
Forsaking the pleasure of the crown.
Their saga of sacrifice the glamour of a regal life did drown.