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Mainstream, VOL LVI No 20 New Delhi May 5, 2018

Happy Birthday, Karl

Saturday 5 May 2018, by Badri Raina

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Achilles of the Intellect, however
The money-lenders may pretend,
Every word you wrote still remains wise
To their perfidious argument.

Your fierce laser showed us
Who produces wealth,
And why those that produce
Remain in poor health.

You armed the least with knowledge
Of transactions near and far
In which we are first robbed.
Then drafted into their war.

You showed us how religion—
A tool that they employ—
Comes to be a succour
To the hapless hoi polloi.

Yet, just as god is consistently
Outwitted by Satan,
Those that you unravelled
Stll wield the baton.

Justice seems a far cry,
However we may foresee;
Perhaps you and they define
A Manichaean heresy.

There seems no conclusion
To which your work so pointed
Is within our devoted grasp,
However our struggles are anointed.

Yet, despite the worst setbacks
If there is anyone them sharks fear,
It is not the latest weaponry,
But your thought, Karl dear.

Badri Raina

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