Poets and Presidents

Courtesy Ranga.

Our silver haired mop top president is a man of abundant energy. He is very patriotic and passionate. He writes a lot, talks a lot and travels a lot. He writes poetry too… I recently read one of his poems.

The grand Scene of birth of Independent India
In that mid-night, the flag of the ruler of two centuries lowered; The tri-color Indian flag flaps in the Red Fort in the midst of National Anthem.
The first vision of Independent India was dawned.

The rejoice everywhere, happiness all around,
There was a tender cry: where is the father of the nation?
The white clothed soul walking in the midst of sorrows and pain,
Injected by hatred and ego, the result of communal violence.

The father of the nation, Mahatma, walking bare footed
In the streets of Bengal for peace and harmony
With the strength of blessed soul of Mahatma
I pray the Almighty: When will be the dawn of second vision?

Create thoughts in the minds of my people,
And transform those thoughts into action.
Embed the thought of Nation being bigger than
The individual, in the minds of leaders and people.

Help all the leaders of my country to give strength
And bless the nation with peace and prosperity.
Give strength to all my religious leaders to bring
'Unity of Minds' among all our billion people

Oh Almighty, bless all my people to work and transform
Our country from a developing into a developed nation.
Let this second vision be born out of sweat of my people,
And bless our youth to live in Developed India.

It starts out with an impassioned plea to the almighty. He paints the image of the birth of our nation. The dawn of our independence from two hundred years of Anglo-Saxon rule. But there were problems even at the onset. Communal violence was huge. Poor old Gandhi was marching in the streets of Bengal wading his way through a pool of blood when the tri-color fluttered for the first time in the capital.

The poet feels that we are now in the dawn of the second vision. Here he makes yet another plea to the almighty to help us achieve this second vision. A vision filled with sweat and toil, strength and unity, peace and prosperity. And of course our youth.

But I hate to say it. It reads badly. It is way too wordy. And looks like a text culled straight out of a "how not to write poetry" guide. So without much ado I have taken the liberty to edit it. For a start, trim down the words a bit without losing the vision. It will certainly help our SMS addled youth that is so dear to our president.


Mid-night
The tri-color flaps.
Independent India has dawned.

Happiness all around,
Suddenly a tender cry: Where is?
The father of the nation?


Mahatma, walking,
Bare footed in the streets of Bengal
For peace and harmony

With the strength of Mahatma
I pray to the Almighty:
Isn't now the dawn of second vision?

Create thoughts
And transform into action.
in the minds of leaders and people.

Give peace and prosperity.
strength to all religious leaders
'Unity of Minds' to our billions

bless our developing country, Oh Almighty,
In sweat of my people, let this second vision be born
and bless our youth