(u - Baba Amte - 1994+2008) To You: Then And Now Poem by Kannan G

O Great Architect of Creative Humanism!
Your works are so beyond the width of my words,
So beyond the grasp of my mind;
Still so fine that I should find
In every stone you’ve touched
The face of a smiling life,
The life of a throbbing heart.
You have etched the heart of ‘Anand’
In the rocks of Warora –
It is your monument to the world.
Anandwan is the art of your heart
And the heart of your art;
Still I see it cannot be your masterpiece.
Your masterpiece is, indeed,
That inexplicable and invisible work
In the minds of men you’ve wrought
The spirits that in sunken souls you’ve brought,
The life of service that you sought,
The fights for rights that you fought –
O Great Architect, if we all could get
At least a glimpse of the light that you’ve got!
O embodiment of the meaning of life!
O symbol of the success of struggle!
You are the voice of our noisy times,
The voice of our silent sufferers!
Your voice shall not go drowned
In the rising waters of the Narmada.
The strength of your voice
Will break open our eyes;
Your voice will make us wise;
It will make us arise!

The lines above were written
When I was in Anandwan the first time
And you were with the Narmada.
Since I was then a newcomer
And since they knew me not then much
Some in Anandwan then thought
That they were a trick of mine
To win your favour, to allure you all.
But when I reached the Narmada
And you held my hands and told me
How much you loved those lines
How much love and life you saw in them
How much you valued my coming there
A dynamic communication, a silent dialogue
Had begun then between our hearts.
As testimony to that, not one but three poems,
Issued forth from me instantaneously:
Those lines I had scribbled
By the banks of the river serene
On a piece of paper I had in my pocket then
When read out to you,
You looked at me startled.
They were on what you had
Spoken to me just a while ago.
With moist eyes you held firm my hands
And said: “Much has already been written about me;
But I think none has so far succeed in seeing me
The way you now do! Best wishes to you.”
Years later when I was with you again
Many a time, drawing me closer to your bed,
Looking deep into my eyes,
The same sentiments you would echo.
Once you said: “There is passion and compassion
And power in your voice;
Keep writing – for justice, for truth;
With confidence and courage, without any fear! ”
And so, yes, I will keep writing –
But when it comes to writing on you
I must humbly admit:
You are still
So much beyond the width of my words,
So much beyond the grasp of my mind!