Anhad ka Baaja

As I sit on Hippo Rock And look down I see that As I have been sitting on Hippo Rock And looking down Potti’s land has become Raja’s Duraisami’s land has become Thenan’s Kumar’s land has become

The brightest minds Of that generation Let the atomic genie Out of the bottle Technological hubris Follow the leader Utopia of plentiful energy Patriotic flag-unfurling We must get there first

Big Brother has cousins All over the world In every place  Where flags are unfurled Some older, some younger But all of them With that Big Brotherly Hunger To be the one who Is looked up to Revered

Blue-eyed and blond lives matter Matter a lot I would say Enola Gay and her Little Boy Were both Blue-eyed and blond I daresay

Once upon a time The exam finger Used to point at The learning moon: You were examined So that you learnt What you had learnt And what you hadn’t The coaching classes started  The great decline

Forty years ago When I awoke early  And ran down to the mess For early breakfast It was not to get to Class on time It was to get to A pristine newspaper first Not to the first page But to the last