OUR INDIA
Dr. C. Jacob
When you see garbage heaped on roads
And drains and gutters with knee-deep mire,
And stinking smell your nostrils assails,
When dirty pigs run gazing your feet,
When cows and bulls in busy markets
Tear through crowds and gore you with horns,
When roads are full of pits and holes
To pull men down and break their bones,
When mosquitoes sting you day and night
When men and women with swollen legs
Drag their feet heavily on roads,
When beggars swarm in trains and buses
And pester you with shrilling voice,
When lepers block the roads in bands
And strand you till you throw a coin,
When drummers beat and pipers blow
Day and night for birth and death,
When frenzied processions block high-ways
For weddings of gods and demons both,
When men in queues at waiting lines
Push like brutes and elbow each other
Where stray dogs snap at passers by
And catch their calves and tear their clothes
Remember my dear, it is our India.