O Mother Mine.

Hello, Namastey, Hola: 

Hope you are having a wonderful summer and making the best of it.  The blog returns this week and just in time of August 15th - India's Independence Day. Having just returned from India, thought it would be apt to start the blog with this tribute. Yes I am biased, love the poet, but the poem is also very apt for India.  It was written in 1993, when India was going through brain drain and today it is role reversal. The poet's vision coming true. Enjoy. 

Happy Independence Day India. 

Oh, Mother Mine

    -   Avinash Verma. 

Oh, Mother mine,

Land of Ancient skies

I remember the days of your gayfull abundance

When you danced with joy in the company of your sons

Oh, how pretty you looked, magnificent decked in gold

Your silken robes fluttered to caress your skin

And beautiful diamonds shone from every place.

Oh, Mother mine,

Now those days are gone

Armies from far away foreign lands

Hearing the tales of your beauty and wealth

Came to plunder your precious wealth

But Mother mine; your heart was pure gold

You gave away your treasures galore

Some came and left, some came and stayed

But you welcomed them all with open arms

Some ridiculed your ways; some loved you dear

But you treated them all with your endless love.

But Mother mine, now you lay in gross neglect,

Your robes are tarnished, your diamonds gone

Your health is foul; your skin is dead

Your sons have abandoned you, for they have seen newer lands

Every day millions leave your shore

In search of lands far galore

The ones, who stay, build houses on your grave

They have forgotten the things you said of love, of honesty and of honor and all.

The land that gave birth to civilization, is today forgotten by all

Oh, Mother they have removed your name from the halls of fame

No longer to travelers flock to your shore

I know you long for your sons in foreign lands

They come to visit you, but only for a while

You rush to embrace them with tears in your eyes, but they turn away

I guess they have seen better lands,

You are too foul for them Mother, you hold no charm

They say you are too old, now, its time to move on

But Mother mine, as now I sit in tears by your side, I realize

Since when has a mother been bad for her child

Is she not but a reflection of her child

This world is strange Mother; I sit here in a daze

As your children blame you for their woes and despair

Oh, Mother mine, cry but do not despair

The lone live child at the end of the warfare, gave birth to a new nation

In the midst of despair there was hope

Thy tears are not wasted; there are some who love you still

You will again see glory days; you will again be alive

The world that mocks you now, will revere you then

Your ways will be understood, your sons will return home

Your love is supreme; it will win everyone again

When we play again, in gayfull abundance,

That day my Mother: I long to see.

- Avinash Verma (1993)