The Life of our Lives in Ethnic Strife Era !
Dr Ranbir Laishram *
We all dwell in our emerald valley,
Adorned by the great nine mountain ranges,
Renowned for its exotic landscape, flora and fauna,
It's highways with perennial bandhs and blockades,
And unending ruthless ethnic violence,
Like a flight of birds high up in the sky
We all endure the hurdle of travelling outside the state
The life we live now Can we call it a life!
A deserted foothill scenario,
Villages reduced to rubble and ashes!
Deafening reverberating sounds of gunfire,
The harsh everyday music, we all endure...
The villagers' minds preoccupied with fear,
Starving dogs in distress cry for their masters,
A home where the Elixir of life is nowhere found,
A community where there is no life!
Do we call it a life worth living?
Seemingly a Bustling life in the City,
Only a few deeply perturbed by the foothill tragedy,
Chaos growing rampant, gun culture ever flourishing.
Might is right and the law,
Silence is wisdom, but it's ruthless now,
Speaking the truth is a crime unpardonable.
Leaders speak different languages,
Infighting among CSOs,and statesmen-what a scene!
Fishing in troubled waters indeed...
The peoples' plea for peace and a lawful law,
More the protests, tighter is the ruler's grip,
Where do we live?
Is it in our mind?
Despite everything going topsy-turvy,
Mother Earth remains calm as ever...
Indomitable mountains standing unmoved,
Give time to settle the Tsunami of hatred,
Give time to heal the bleeding hearts
Time to recuperate from the societal injury
If only one knows- life is too short to wrangle!
Our life is but a temporary journey
For ethnic strife will lead only to devastation
No one wins, everybody suffers
Let us give peace a chance to return...
I wish, it surely will come one day!
* Poem written by Dr Ranbir Laishram for The Sangai Express
This poem was webcasted on 04 April 2024.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.