Poetry

Reuters photo

By

Sheshu Babu

God is not yours alone

(The Indian Supreme Court passed judgment allowing women of all ages to enter Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala which was barred by male priests)

We felt your hegemony

Everywhere ….

We felt your tyranny

Everywhere …

From our birth to giving birth

Your diktat was always there!

On the pretext of ‘sati’ when we faced death,

Tears from your eyes ….nowhere!

You had the luxury

To go anywhere

We lived in closed sanctuary

Without anyone present for our woes to share

Even God was on your side

Opened His temple doors wide…

We had to pray inside

Our hearts taking all the suffering in our stride…

We waited, waited, waited and waited

Till delayed justice was almost denied

Finally the auspicious day arrived

Our entry into ‘Sabarimala’ temple confirmed

Now, we are a step closer to equality

To vent our sorrows to Almighty

And seek freedom and liberty

From male hegemonic chauvinistic society

Our struggle is not yet over ….

There are churches, Mosques, Gurudwaras to cover

And break the stereotype over and over

Announce that God is not yours alone forever

Then and Now

When communal tensions

Hatred and massacres

Large scale migrations

Of innocent Muslims

Were at their peak,

India celebrated

Its ‘Freedom at midnight’

And Bapuji…! You were sleeping

In strife-torn streets contemplating

The future of struggling India

Devising appropriate idea….

Now,

When caste conflicts

Communal outbursts

Lynchings and thrashes

Continue unabated ….

While those who supported

The persons who murdered

Are ‘celebrating’ your Birthday

Gandhiji….! You are standing

Like a lifeless statue accepting

Slippers from some and garlands from others

Would you urgently come

Find amicable solutions to the burning problem???

Sheshu Babu

The writer from anywhere and everywhere is interested in the betterment of the whole world. Whenever the writer ponders on the question ‘who am I?’ He finds response from Bhupen Hazarika lyric (Bengali),’Ami ek Jajabor’ (I am a gypsy). 

Some works have appeared in Countercurrents.org, Dissidentvoice.org, Counterview.org, counterview.net, Velivada.com, etc.