RISE OF INDIA
I walked the streets of New Delhi.
I breathed the dust.
I watched the crowds,
the chaos,
the color,
the cry.
And I asked—
When will the Indus gods bless you to rise
not on paper,
but in truth?
India,
you speak loudly to the world.
You say you will be greater than China.
But greatness is not declared.
It is engineered.
Forged.
Paid for in discipline.
China rose on steel.
On factories.
On roads carved through mountains.
On a bureaucracy that fears failure
more than it fears the world.
Your rise came through services.
Through speech,
not structure.
Through hope,
not hardware.
How do you rise
when your industrial base is thin,
your reforms delayed,
your roads broken,
your bridges dreaming of concrete
that never comes?
How do you rise
when violence against women
walks openly in the daylight,
and justice travels slower
than the monsoon winds?
The West does not condemn you.
Not because you are innocent—
but because you are useful.
A tool in the hands of empires
that no longer wear crowns
but still command kingdoms.
They hate China
because China serves itself.
They love you
because you serve them.
Do not mistake applause
for respect.
Do not mistake partnership
for freedom.
Some corners of your nation
look older than forgotten kingdoms—
roads cracked open like old wounds,
villages untouched by time,
cities swallowing their own people.
But still you dream of being a superpower.
Dreams without discipline
become illusions.
Illusions without courage
become prisons.
India,
your rise will not come
from slogans,
from alliances,
from borrowed admiration.
It will come
when your leadership wakes.
When your pride becomes practical.
When your vision meets reality
instead of fleeing from it.
The Indus gods will rise with you
only when you rise with truth.
Not with fantasy.
Not with borrowed love.
Not with Western applause.
Rise first in honesty.
Rise first in justice.
Rise first in the courage
to confront your own shadow.
Then—
and only then—
the world will bow
to the India
that finally stood up.
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a
Premium Membership.
