Dear India,
I take a pledge
To stay unpledged
To stay untouched
By the theatre staged
By your presumptive right
And your assumptive hurt.
I will not be herded
Towards a raucous left
That thinks it is right
And I will not be led
By the righteous might
That can never do wrong.
I refuse to opine
On your fleeting pain
Or your intense love;
I will not take sides
When the only losers
Will be me and mine.
Don't question my mind
As it soars at the flutter
Of the tri colour
Nor my easy heart
When it dances
Under the rainbow.
Don't assume my wings
Are leaning left or slanting right;
They are beating
To another song
Where right is right
And wrong is wrong.
– Sarita Talwai
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