A cruel taxi driver in Mumbai
Forced a Muslim woman
Out of his vehicle
For she was in labour
Providence had it that
She meandered into a Hindu temple
Of Lord Ganesh
Gave birth to a yelling
Full-throated Indian babe
Assisted by female devotees
Who had thronged the place
News says the child was named Ganesh
Another news items blares
Badly needed space was granted
At a Hindu temple in Mumbai
For Muslims to pray
On the day of Eid Al-Adha
Both incidents are in order
That is the way the world should be
No matter what brainless crooks say
Yet why is it that so much is said
About what every man should do
To his fellow human
And why does it become big news
When someone repairs a broken sparrow
Or pauses to sit beside
A dying cat to pray
Or rescues a stray dog from a well
All unnoticed, unreported
Man has it in him
A God that expresses often
In an elating empathy
May such men
Hold their hands together
And do an India make
Others will sure join
For elation is everyone’s like
In sheer tears of joy
Let them sing Vande Maataram*
Children born to a mother
Spanning miles and miles
Of beautiful earth
Enriched by the Ganges
Her eyes fixed on the sky
Of stars and galaxies
Listening for eons and eons
To the songs of universal love
Make India, make India
You sons of India
We are born at a Ganesha mosque
Or is it a church or a Jain temple
A gurudwara, it is all the same
Providence has it so
Lucky we remain
Singing Vande Maataram
In unison
As the dumbfounded stars listen
________________
*salute the mother
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