Things are looking up

Prices go up for commodities
Prices go up for all forms of energy.
Affordable accommodation is a distant, very distant reality.
Pray tell how are things looking up in the Indian economy?

We have had bomb blasts that take immeasurable toll.
Intelligence says ‘Wait, there is more to follow.’
The common man needs ‘Z plus’ security.
Pray tell how are things looking up in this country?

There are jobs now available in plenty.
But only for those who already have opportunities.
There are countless still who despair
That crime is the only way to pay their fare.

The under privileged are only less privileged
Sex is still being gendered.
Fanatics and lightweights hog the newspaper
The common man’s concerns are pushed to a corner.

Yet there is justice in the country.
B’coz verdicts are doled in 2006 for blasts in 1993.
B’coz so many guilty are still let scot-free.
B’coz so many innocents are still found guilty.

Yet things are looking up in this country.
B’coz we have an Oscar level ‘Rang de Basanti.’
B’coz we have newly found Gandhigiri.
B’coz all these events have inspired my poetry.


Written on 4 October, 2006.
For reference read today’s TOI and Hindustan Times if u wish to ;)