We came on foot, we came on boats, shouting slogans of Azadi.
We stood on roof tops and sat on walls under the burning midday sun,
Listening to the words that we had longed to hear for so long.
Words that had been scripted through the lonely fears of our hearts.
Words that were spoken now with the clarity of courage.
Words that were spoken now with the suppressed strength of pent up anger.
Words that were spoken now with the certainty of belonging to the soil
Which had become one with the dust of our ancestors.
We stood there in the waves of heat
Feeling the surge and press of countless bodies around us.
Bodies meshed through the odour of sweat
And the shared fear of a common persecution.
And hanging from the roof tops,
And tied to the poles,
And clutched in hands slippery with sweat,
And wrapped round the pillars,
And spreading into our blood,
Were three strips of colour with a wheel of spokes,
Sewn together into the shape of our being.
Woven into the folds of our future and the creases of our past.
Stitched to the seams of the earth, the water, the air and the sky
That belonged to us and to which we belonged.
And we stood there from noon to evening,
We the people of India.
Raising our clenched fists like signposts to the future.
Chanting slogans like a new anthem.
Kin to each other through the ties of community.
Born to live and die
In a nation that was ours to hold on to
And ours to belong to.
Dr Parinitha is a professor of English in Mangalore University. She penned the poem soon after participating in the historic protest against CAA, NPR and NRC at Shah Garden, Adyar, Mangaluru on 15th January, 2020.
Also Read:
‘The more you try to divide us, the stronger and united we’ll be’: Record turnout in Mangaluru’s anti-NRC protest
Anti-NRC protest in Mangaluru brings ‘media bias’ to the fore
Comments
Monkey came for mangalore to go kerala...publick is stuppid.
After bringing Yogi to Kerala through Mangalore , BJP had lost their prospect in both states. the man with lot of criminal cases on his head has come to teach the law and order. People will start to compare their state with yogis ruled state. People want their children not to die due to lack of oxygen, People dont want to loose their monumental identities, People want to live in love and peace. they dont want price rice. and many more. By bringing this uneducated man to educated stateS BJP itself will realize their mistake
Why these days communal gundas visiting our manglore? Is there any conspiracy to disturb the peace in dakishin kannada?? May god save our DK.
Just wasting tax payers money only one intention to spread communal unrest all over INDIA. But state like Kerala with 100% educated Malayaly nothng will happen. Even rss's heavy funding to noted goondas they cannot make a Hair Line Fracture to Kerala State. At Punjab, Bengal and Kerala rss notable to cook their dish DHAAL NAHI GHALAGHI.
Amit Shah's Drama in front of temple never accepted by any HINDU Diety.
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