Nourin N K
India Oh India!
Let me call you out-
by your name
At last.
India Oh! India!
My father’s wallet is
Still on quarantine,
Sick and cold
We chant “achhe din aayega”
To heal what’s stuck
In our throat.
What was it? I wonder!
My caste? My religion? My rights?
Oh! How easily I forget,
One after the other
Like my aunt’s unending bitching,
The subject changed
Day by day.
Thousands slaughtered
But you still couldn’t find any blood
Stained in Saffron,
Red! Red! Red! It was
But now
The Colour of humanity darkened
Under Priceless gasoline.
India Oh India,
The world and I are hanging
With no answers in our mouth,
And I could only receive your
Fake promises
Crashing my inbox,
Encrypted above
Reliance media.
India!
You have become more sinister
Than my abused vagina,
Slicing my mother’s breasts
With your unredeemed hands.
India!
Remember where your roots lie.
You have grown
A thick greedy heart,
Uprooting my brothers and sisters
From their rights.
Large and tyrannical,
You seek for puppets
To dance when you clash your
Demanding plates.
India Oh India!
I confront you!
I am challenging you!
Think!
How selfish you have become.
India!
What have you done
To my brothers
Who fought for my voice?
Where have you buried
The justice of my butchered sisters?
India! You question
The veracity of my words,
But I ask
Do you remember
The face of truth!?
India! I name you coward today,
For I see no Ganga
Big enough
To cleanse your bloody mind.
India Oh India
You have turned so tiny
To find comfort
On my brother’s dead body.
~~~
Nourin N K is from Calicut. She is a graduate in English language and literature, currently pursuing MA in English language and literature in Calicut University.
