Oh, Sharmila is of her food!
Sri Jagadish Brajabaacy *
Paintings on Spirit of Irom Sharmila by Neogene Artists
Ours is a world where many toil
In a selfish way with eyes greedy
In tandem with like-mined colleagues
To multiply their sordid interests.
He who works hand in glove with his friends
Eats a big dinner thrice a day
So do his friends enjoying dishes
Occidental and oriental.
Like his subjects who eat a lot
The king is also a big eater
Enjoying all kinds of dishes
After every four hours a day.
O, unlike the king and his subjects
One girl is off her food vexing kings
Busy with their personal matters-
Eating thrice sleeping long reaching queens!
She's none other than Miss Sharmila
Who keeps fasting upwards of 10 years
To get draconian laws repealed
To bring back peace o the good old State.
Oh, what an awe-inspiring girl
Unselfish and self-sacrificing
Sowing in her native land 'peace-seeds'
For her countrymen to reap the crops!
She's been through this ordeal which is
More than flesh and blood can bear –
Not eating 'her eats' for a decade
Worrying the king and his consorts.
Ah, after taking a grand dinner
The king tells his court to arrest her
On the plea that she'll commit suicide
She's then taken prisoner in a trice!
What a king of the sea of freedom
Taking like a miser, actions
Outrageous and preposterous
Against ships selfish and Gandhian!
What a world of politics with kings
Unpatriotic and undemocratic –
Unwilling to cede freedom of ones
Patriotic and democratic!
Oh, only an ounce of liquid
Less than a spoonful of water
From the mighty ocean of freedom
Should have stopped Sharmila from fasting!
But on the plea of a fight against
Tigers and lions that roam about
Kings endanger the deer that flee
Like pigeons at the sight of eagles.
Manipur is proud of Sharmila –
The sailor in the sea of freedom
Rowing with a pair of oars
In the manner Gandhiji loves.
* Poem written by Sri Jagadish Brajabaacy for Hueiyen Lanpao
This poem was webcasted on July 10 2014.
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