We , the Indians.

This is for you. My city went through something yesterday. Something uncalled for. Something, that will be remembered by most of my people for a long time. They will not forgive. They will not forget. These wounds don’t heal soon. And we won’t let the bleeding stop.

My people . Mark these words. You have hurt them. You have tried again and again to break us, to make us loose our spirit. To make us feel alone and scared. I do not know who you are. I have not seen your faces. It maybe that you have a good reason for what you have done, maybe you do not. You might have been picked up on, wronged, persecuted for some event you were alien to. Maybe you are fighting for a perceived right. Maybe it is religion. Maybe it’s the money. Maybe it’s not.

Whatever your reasons maybe, what you have done is make us bleed. You have taken a few of us hostages, you have let a few of us slowly bleed onto oblivion and some of us you have just blown up with your explosions, into a void where the rest of us cannot get to them. Worse still, some of us you have left hanging at the death’s door, wondering if our names will be called. However there is one thing common amongst all of us. You have left us scarred. Some of us physically and some of us emotionally. Things will never be the same again.

Let me make one thing clear. We, all of those who you have hurt, are not just a country, but a family. I have read the pledge on the first page of my school textbooks, the one that states India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. Yes , we do fight, we do quarrel and sometimes raise our hands on each other. We have our own complications. But then which family does not? Look at us. You may think we are different. We have different hues, languages , behavior, accent , faiths and temperaments. We are a diverse family, demographically as well as geographically and I do not deny this. We have our own issues and agendas. But mark my words. We may not be one, but we are the same. A family.

We fight amongst ourselves, but we do not entertain others to interfere in our family affairs. Yes, we will settle out our petty quarrels as well as our big feuds. We never asked for an arbitrator, and yes we do not welcome external aggression. For the name sake we are divided into a million communities, but frankly, it’s not about being a ‘Marathi manoos’, a ‘Bhaiya’ , a ‘Gujrati’ or a ‘Punjabi’ or any other names we give each other or ourselves. It’s not about being a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian , Zoroastrian, Jew, Buddhist or the hundred other faiths we follow. To you were are and should be, just ‘INDIANS’. And as I have told you, we are a family. You hurt anyone in the family. You hurt all of us. Oh, and we don’t take getting hurt kindly.

Yesterday my mothers and sisters have twisted uncomfortably in their beds wondering if their son’s and husbands , brothers and friends will all come home safe. The guests to my family, they have been hurt too. We have been up all night, jamming the mobile networks to check up on all our near and dear ones. You have spoilt our sleep, our peace and mostly our kindness. My sleep has been destroyed by your activities. We have lost our family members. How do we forgive? Or how do we forget?

Yet I do not know your face. I do not know why you have done this. Maybe I want to know this. Maybe I don’t. However I do know that you have not succeeded. Our family members have died due to your actions. More of them died trying to stand up to you. That’s what a family is all about. None of those who tried to stop you wondered what faith or country the hostages were. None of the people who helped rush the wounded on the streets to the hospitals, or let others into their home for shelter wondered if the person they are taking in was a Ram, Khan , Singh or Richard. They just knew that their family was in danger. They did what a family does. And today, while the conflict is still on, most of my family members are out already, doing their daily chores. Their jobs, their work, or just taking care of the rest of us. They will spread this message. We stand together, we stand tall.


We have each other’s back, no matter what initial impressions about us say. And we do not break that easy. We refuse to do so. Not now, never.

I Don't need you

I guess i'v made it obvious enough,
our conversations have been but a few,
And in case you got it all wrong let me spell it out,
I Don't need you.

You've been there to pull me down,
The whole deal stinks like a public Loo,
And just on record i'm repeating myself,
I Don't need you.

When ever i tried to be happy and glad,
You've forced me to feel blue,
And just in case it didn't quite register,
I Don't need you

A hundred people about us whisper,
and wonder why outta proportion this situation blew,
And this, yes this is for their special benefit,
I Don't need you

And though this is not addressed,
You probably know who i refer too,
heck , if your still reading this pathetic excuse for a poem,
One last time , for your benefit ... I Don't need you