(Written in December 2012 when Nirbhaya, the unfortunate gang-rape victim, was breathing her last on a Singapore hospital bed and public anger in New Delhi and elsewhere was at boiling point)
You have given me hope
My veiled and unveiled sisters
Muslim and Hindu
Belonging to every faith
Marching towards the historic India Gate
Defying the might
Of the overbearing insolent State
Demanding justice for women
Justice for Indian womanhood
Fighting death on a hospital bed
With its last insecure breath
A weak palpitating heart
You have taught me
India is one
It shall ever remain so
For ever for eons to come
Veiled or unveiled
No matter what faith inspires it
We have one common goal
Justice for the downtrodden
The unfortunate oppressed
And victimized
Irrespective of religion
Let your voice be heard
And reverberate
On the corridors of power
We have reached the Armageddon
The Kurukshetra of our times
Let the adamance
And insolence
Of the impudent power-brokers shudder
Let them take notice
No more foolery is allowed
And take to their trembling feet and flee
Let new blood flow
In your veins
Brothers and sisters
Like the beloved Yamuna in rage
Let us compose the tune
For a new India to sing
Vande Mataram again
In grand solemn salute
To oppressed Indian womanhood
All that is weak
And taken for granted
Callously trespassed
So that the weakening breaths
And ebbing pulse
Of Indian womanhood
On a distant hospital bed
Are not wasted
And washed away
In the waters of uncaring time
To indifferent oblivion
Let the Yamuna be in rage
Let the Yamuna be afire
Rise sisters and brothers
You have reached your Armageddon
At a New India Gate
Awaiting history to be made
Vande Mataram. I praise thee mother. Future is bleak if woman is not respected. A powerful poem to create a needed movement. Thank you.
Though Nirbhaya is a burning memory in our hearts, it is so unfortunate that such callous acts are repeated in many parts of India.... A land which once deified womanhood has stooped to this level! It is so painful...! ..... the weakening breaths And ebbing pulse Of Indian womanhood On a distant hospital bed Are not wasted And washed away In the waters of uncaring time To indifferent oblivion.................. I doubt it much! While men like you feel so strongly about it, there are a good number of men with vulture like appetite who wait to feed on female flesh....! A very very powerful write!
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
A true literary piece indeed