Lines written in nineteen ninety three
(With apologies to Rabindranath Tagore)
Where fear stalks the mind and the head hangs in shame;
Where knowledge is twisted,
Where the country has been broken up into fragments by
narrow walls of caste and creed;
Where words are mouthed for short–term gains;
Where insatiable lust stretches its arms towards seats of
power;
Where the clear stream of reason has dried up in the scorch-
ing heat of the forest of communal flare–ups;
Where the mind is led backward by Thine enemy into ever–
narrowing thought and action -
From this nightmare of licence, my Father, let my country awake.
Copyright © Noman Hamza | Year Posted 2025
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