Salutations, father of my nation, salutations.
Leaving these flowers at the feet of thy statue
I stand bowing in front of it in silent adoration
You were born 150 years ago into a different situation: –
Treating brotherly beings as beasts
Owning slaves, to humiliate and torture,
For deciding social dignity,
Poisoning the thought stream of society
By discriminating people by colour,
Redefining the destiny of millions
By harmful racist paradoxes.
Haunting the peace of mass perpetually
By intimidating terror
Leaving the people in utter darkness
To fumble about in desperation.
Lord Krishna took his birth in a prison
You were born in captive India
Looters in the hides of traders
Took away all our precious belongings.
Seeing Mother India’s tears and pains
You jumped over to the forefront to fight
Armed with the mighty non-violent “Sathyagraha”
You stormed against the colonial citadels
Like a lodestar you lead the people from the darkness of ignorance
To the day light of realisation
From the lost mid sea to the shore of blissful aspiration
With the will-power of a rescue-ship-captain
With the invincible spirituality of a powerful saint
You became the dominant master of an era of enlightenment
simplicity and humbling won you a place in million’s hearts
Consecrating in as the idol of purity and truthfulness
So long as the Himalayas stand high,
So long as the high seas hold water
The name “Mahatma Gandhi” will echo from heart to heart
With a painful tune of “Raghupathi Raghava……”
Bullets cannot kill you Bapu
You will live in our hearts for ever.
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