Colon:i:sation
You made a list:
India
Rest of the world
You took the next boat East;
Landed.
What were you looking for?
You’re in the land of plenty….
Anything you please….
We’ve been blessed:
Trees, rivers, fruit;
Spices of all types…
So we stare into starry skies
And make up our tales
Should we tell you a few?
“Ah no no. Thank you.
We’re exploring.
Trading, actually.
We want to exchange a lot
Maybe we could start with spice?”
And our hearts melted
Or molten they always were
Some of us were “corrupt”
Which for us was just
Helping the weaker side
So over two hundred years
The “Athithi”
(the one who doesn’t arrive on a preset date)
Started from Guest
To trading partner
To Administrator
To ruler
To King and Queen
200 years….
What a date….
Finally broken
By a tryst with destiny
In a world at war
with itself.
Seventy years have passed
And this cute little baby
With an ancient soul
Walks around, a little bewildered
Confused
Not scared
But scarred
Modern India rises
And when it does, ah! what a sight
What a sight to behold
For all nations celebrate their greatness
And we do ours
Every nation wants to be the “best”
We know of a world where that can happen
And we are on our way
As Sashi leads the pack of deer
Dancing and teasing the Brits
You COLONisers
Of course, you run to defend
A Colon? It was just a dot.
A full stop.
We tell you you COLONISED us
You say you gifted us a train.
We say you took the wealth away.
You remind us of “Daridra Narayan”
We hate you for tea and cricket
But love our tea and enjoy our cricket.
What has happened here?
Maybe the COLON was a Semi-Colon
Maybe we were Semi-Colonised?
Cos some of us wept,
When you left
Others felt
Fairly bereft.
I think some answers are coming up now.
It was some sort of a twisted love affair.
You were smitten by ancientness
Of a culture whose fragrance spread wide….
You came as explorers not to loot maybe
Cos not all humans we despise.
There were some who broke rules
On either sides
And created a monster
That ate it all here
And excreted it all there
It’s not Bull Shit
Its serious wealth and Money
(Look at London
Look at Kolkata)
I always choose Kolkata.
But I love London too.
I think its time,
To start something new
Its time to relook at this
Starting with a pound year
And the diamond that is due.
And sure, we acknowledge
Cos we have the knowledge
That this word we speak
Is of a tongue you made.
We honour our Common Wealth
And trust British Council
We love your accent
And your delicate teas
You can try it with some Khari
Or some Parle-Gs
Its time to meet once more
As lovers and friends,
To take the :, ;, . and the ,
And “dismantle” the “ “
Open up our {arms}
Into a fresh new {embrace}
A new grammar
Starting all over again
Not BBC
But A B C क ख़ा ग
क्या तुम तय्यार हो?
हम तो खड़े खड़े intezaar kar race hain,
Come soon….
Come, lets re-colonize
Lets de-colonize
Lets UN-colonize
Melting into a new grammar and prose
Smelling the thorns with the rose,
As an act of divine grace,
Into an ever lasting embrace….