Darkness

Me: Must write something bright!

True!  I am happy these days

Heart: Haven’t you noticed the plight

Really! Are you sure?

Me: whose plight are you implying?

My family and friends are all fine

Heart: The several who are dying

The little ones being attacked

Me: but what can I do about it?

I didn’t perpetrate the crimes

Heart: Express your anguish damn it!

Only then celebrate the festival of light

Yes! I am a poet, a writer. Someone who is just trying to make a foothold in this vast and diverse society after having suffered and struggled a lot. Like many others I also wanted to dwell on personal happiness and festivities and shopping. I also wanted to clean my own house or maybe even the street. 

And yet, today, my heart pains to see what the nation has come to. Toddlers being raped and killed, religious fanaticism, communal disharmony, suppression of basic freedom and much more. Are we progressing? This is not progress, this is digression. We are a modern nation with 70% population under the age of 35 but we are moving toward archaic times where sectarianism, bigotry and intolerance are becoming the norm. Freedom of expression, speech, freedom to follow what we like and eat and wear what we prefer are being questioned.

I pride myself as a modern Indian woman who considers religion as a very personal matter. Also i have grown up in a nation and a city where all strata and sections of society including women  are given the liberty to grow, earn and move around as free citizens. Why are these being curtailed? Why is no one speaking up. Why cant everyone else feel the anguish? 

How can you celebrate Diwali amidst all this darkness that the nation is plunging into. We need light and a galaxy full of it.