One day

You wanted the quiet

but not the solitude

No whispers

When hunger pangs made you scream out loud, the people fell silent..

You wanted

Not a kind word

Nor pitiful looks

But acceptance...

They called you mad

But the infamy

When madness is just a word

For when people don't understand you.

The sudden mood swings,

The reason why

You cried and laughed

At the same time.

You cried when you remembered

How your mother toiled

Day and night

So you would

Be happy, fed

and would tuck you in

Singing as you fell asleep.

You laughed

When you read her letter

"I want you to keep me in your heart

When I pass away,

Honestly it was a roller-coaster ride,

I won't lie, I am glad to leave this place."

The children

Who were asleep

Within a blanket too thin

to keep out the cold -

Without a fire to warm their bones.

"Let us cry out

Let our voice reach out

To the people, to fill up the void

Even if our voices are met with silence."

Of the people with starving stomachs

By the people whose senses are dulled

For the people who lay low,

Tears from their eyes, they flow

A stark question

When, when will they Live

To find peace?

You remembered your late father's words

"Be the change

You want to see."

So you took your belongings

Meagre they were

A book, a staff

A writing pad

A turban you wore

With half-shred clothes

And you left to roam the world.

You had once compared thieving and a robber's loot

To Politics, law and order - the truth.

But now you strive to learn those

So those who come after you

Will never face

Thieving two-faced scum.

A little child with missing milk tooth

Came upon you and smiled at you

Asked to pass the ball

That you had caught

Laughing and thanking you

When you gave it back

How could you say

That it was these things

That tethered you to the hope

That we would live like Kings.

So you dredged along the path

To see

How the country like yours has come to be

Millions of miles you would cross

And then to a solution you would come

How to live simple lives,

In peace, and happy and without spite.

How to not die of hunger

How to pace, or to slow down

To count the stars at night.

So you dredged along the path

To learn

What your closed eyes couldn't see

What your ears wouldn't hear,

What your mouth never uttered

But for this you needed

Someone who taught

The ultimate truth,

Who would guide you,

A teacher.

In search of that someone,

You came across the hidden secrets -

The Goddess's Temple.

The Great Goddess,

Who asked of no sacrifice

Who foretold of no calamity (as She would protect you, always)

And the man asked you

To contemplate

And think of her form.

Her form stood in front of you,

An epitome of forgiveness

The Mother of the Motherland -

The One who gives

The One who forgives -

She is in need of soldiers

Who would give their lives

(Again not in sacrifice)

To protect

All those who can't live

Full lives.

So you listened, mesmerized,

(For he was a good orator)

But still not convinced.

You challenged him to show

If what he said was true.

He challenged you

To ask of him

Something that

You couldn't do.

You told him

Of the ten children

Living in the Orphanage

That collapsed from

The Earthquake.

The man smiled

And took them in

Inside the small house

That he lived in.

In ten days

He made a thatched hut, and

A cooking tub for khichdi.

In the morning

He worked ceaselessly,

In the night, he taught them

The Orion, the Big Dipper - the stars and their constellations.

He taught what he knew

To the children

And in ten days,

Those ten boys

Had learnt what to do

With their hands and feet.

They made khadi clothes,

Hands and feet working seamlessly.

Some of them learnt quickly,

The others helped the other half

Live a full life in simplicity.

You were amazed

At how

The man took them in

And groomed them in

Everything they were lacking in.

They would ask of no one,

For food or penny or of any such,

They pledged their loyalty

To the country

And worked hard

To be good citizens.

What they lacked,

They created,

Their voices heard,

Their prayers answered.

They would douse

Cries of hunger from others

With food they had prepared

For themselves.

Thus they found acceptance.

The challenge he met head on

Made you acknowledge his strength and so you asked -

"I have lost, so what will I do?"

He smiled and shook his head

And he asked, "No, what can I do for you?"

"Please accept me as your apprentice," you said,

"Teach me like you taught those boys

Discipline and a little of joy."

The man closed his eyes and said,

"My Temple houses the Goddess,

Who lives as the Mother of my Motherland,

Her I serve as my Mother, I know of no other.

Her I bedeck with garlands, a clay statue, as some would say, but for me she is,

in my mind, in my heart, as real as you are."

You look at the man, so noble to speak,

And tell him of your deepest feeling,

"I am broken, a man though I am,

My past has left me without a loving parent,

Blind and confused I do wander.

I will serve my country,

But how do I start?"

He said, "Tell me of your love that has broken you,

Take small steps and devote your whole being - not to recreate what you have lost,

But to answer - is this action

Worth the patience and what was asked of you silently in the past?

You will find then

The blessings your love has brought for you

Has made you whole again."

You found yourself

Wanting for quiet again,

Not for making others listen

But so you could listen to yourself for a moment.

Thirty days you toiled about,

Working a day job, your mind preoccupied.

At nights you would meditate

And focus on the love your parents shared

Among themselves and with you

And finally you decide to be

True

To them and to you.

A transformation was brought forth

Through your contemplation, a lion sprung out

From you, yourself.

You devoted your lives to your parents

And thus

Proved your loyalty to their memories.

"Thank the man who showed me the way,

May I be in some way,

What he was to me, one day."