Hundred years ago, an
Indian baby had been born
He had inhaled the
air of an enslaved land
“I pray he sees
better times,” the mother had said
While holding him
closely with her hand.
The nation was then
under a foreign rule
Its people were
slaves in their own kingdom
They had to work
towards glorifying a foreign nation
And they dreamt the
usual dream of freedom.
The brave Indian boy along with others
Lost his life in the struggle to free the motherland
Lost his life in the struggle to free the motherland
No other baby would
be born to serve
No foreigner would
walk a ruler upon their sand.
Years later, another
Indian baby opened his eyes
And inhaled the air
of the free land
“I pray he gets all
that he wants in life,” said the mother
As he was passed from
hand to hand.
The child played on
the Indian soil
He got educated in
the Indian way
He had the freedom to
do what he chose to
He could express what
he wished to say.
The boy read about
the struggle for freedom
He learnt the details
off his history books
While the people he
studied about, peeped out
To see how
independent India looks.
Through the dusty pages of the history books
Our ancestors saw how
far we had arrived
While the Indian boy
got all he wanted
And gradually, into
success he dived.
He earned enough to
live a better life
Than many who
struggled to make ends meet
He thought he was
meant for greater places
Than the
still-developing land under his feet.
He drove past the
slums, the beggars on the stations
He screwed up his
nose at places which smelled
He looked inferiorly
at his country’s products
“I need to be free
from this place,” he yelled.
The boy, now a man packed
his bags
Said his goodbyes and
boarded the airplane
The people from the dusty pages saw him leave
And wondered if they
had died in vain.
The Indian had gone
under a foreign rule
He was willing to be
a slave of another kingdom
He would work towards
glorifying a foreign nation
Has this become the
Indian dream of freedom?
The motherland waits
patiently each day
For all its children
that left it for personal gain
The native soil
remembers their tender hands
Which are now adorned
with a foreign chain.
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