| « तू एक काठ की गुड़िया! | तेरे दीदार की बैठे हैं तमन्ना लेकर » |
MORE THAN ONE ANNA
   Loading... |
Apr 2011 Contest, English Poetry |
The Chennai Sun was at His noon best
“41 degrees” mumbled the one to my next
my waning age warned me to leave the queue
my decades of commitment did not cue
“Sixth time” I reckoned “That clean shaven giant
in shabby shirt, slipping down lungi and half-faint
in seesaw condition intrude in to the next line
I saw the others near to him, realign
Pinching their noses and move distant”
“That bearded ruffian for the eighth time
and that short one in black T-shirt for the fifth time
I see at least a dozen such hoodlums” complained
A bit aloud my neighbor in our line
“Chup, chup, don’t invite trouble; they may have guns”,
his friend argued, “Do you need all this at this sixty plus?”
“Did you see, near that Eastern road junction?
Five groups are dispensing whisky and gin
In fact that queue is bigger than here!” he queried
“Yesterday night they doled out in the village
saris and currency notes at each door;
and gallons of arrack they poured out to the poor
do you know that?” his friend did report
The rule is simple, “Votes for notes!
That’s all! No comments!!!”
“We must tell Anna” the first oldie said well-determined
His friend clarified with an understandable grin
“Anna is minding the few coveted hundreds at the top
You are looking at the naked millions
at the bottom of the democratic rock
Painting the leaves green, won’t make the plant alive
We must water a billion grass roots
and doctor their ignorant and fickle minds
WE need more than ONE Anna to mend”
Very nice and so true. But the end seems a bit abrupt .
Anuradha,
really enjoyed reading this poem.
Corruption is contagious.
Is Anna a reference to old currency as well as a person(unknown to me)?
Gion
@Gion Gion, Fergus, Anna Hazare..
Beautiful poem and a superb take on the present happenings
But to take one right positive step is the crucial real beginning
Anna has initiated this step all have to join in the awakening
Unite against the nefarious activities of the corrupt to derail the movement
Expose these machinations and with confidence support fully the movement
With followers joining Anna steadfastly in the revolution more Annas will be automatically emerging.
Lets ensure with our support to the movement in every way this will sure be happening
Kudos for this beautiful poem of content. exposure and meaning…
Stars = 5
@Vishvnand, Very well said Sir. Sure many more Anna hazares will come and this is the first step. In 1979, I think our ex-PM, Morarji Desai after their party’s debacle in elections commented, ‘Jaise janata, vaise hi hoga circar’…. rather sarcastically. As long as people vote for money and alcohol, even the leaders are forced to go that way…frankly these are the days, when an honest politician cannot survive in politics…so this poem..
@anuradha
you are absolutely right. The Lokpal Bill’s main intention and objective is to deter dishonest & corrupt politicians & officials in any position from surviving and to be properly brought to books and given punishment. This in effect will mean that they will have to be fairly honest to survive and hold their position. This will be a first worthy step towards cleaning the Govt & Administration to less dishonesty from the present level of extreme dishonesty for they will be worried of severe punishment for wrong doing. Presently they are shamelessly corrupt and protected from any punishment and are severely harming the nation and its honest citizens.
A lovely poem well written, Anuradha.
@medhini, So many thanks Medhini ji for your comments.
@anuradha,
Very difficult to write a poem on a political subject. Very sensitively handled.
True, it will need a massive revolution in the minds of masses to awaken the Anna in their hearts & goad them on to positive action to weed out the seeds of corruption that have seeped into every nook and corner of our society.
Best wishes,
Kusum.
@kusum, Dear Kusum, My idea is to see the other important side of our democracy. A couple of years ago an IAS officer by name Jayaprakash Narayana started his own party (Lok Satta) in Andhra Pradesh. His motto is to eradicate corruption from politics..he is urging people not to vote for money and alcohol. In elections he won just one seat, ie. his own in Hyderabad. Recently he was beaten in Assembly by other MLAs. But the positive development is that he got a good percentage of votes, overall…so both politicians and people are to be blamed for present condition.
nice poem