Mother Land

Mother India!
We are all your children,
adoring you, chanting ‘victory to thee’.
But, as in a family, we grow unequally:
some privileged, many neglected.

Your boundless affection cascading
from the perennial fountain
percolates through boulders
of poverty, hunger, trickling down
to those: marginalised. 

Yet the inspiring slogan in your praise,
raised from both ends
of the spectrum, reverberates
on the grand orchestra, ringing
the symphony of our pride and glory.

A.K. Das