India is...

India is    lime green
                 bottle green
                 forest green
                 olive green
                 yellow mustard
                 tall palms..........
.........an ancient Banyan.

India is thatched roofs and steel plants,
                   garam chai and pappadams,
33 million deities, a temple at every nook.
India is a BILLION stories if you looked....

with your heart
and grabbed on to the hand of a man who is frail yet strong,
who is whole yet torn,
who is pulled in a dozen directions in a land that is being reborn.

India is you and me friend.
And 70,000 miles of railway tracks separating us and bringing us together.

India is me and you friend.
And 500 million children who call themselves Indian.
Who play
         dream
         fall
         cry
         aspire
         explore
         wonder........
..and hope.
India is all these children, my friend. You can hear their laughter as they dive into the pile  of trash outside their homes.
You can hear them pleading for the next iphone.

India is Hubli, Deoria, Madurai, Chennai
Vishakapatnam, Behrampur, Bengaluru, Mumbai.
India is Rajgir, Tilonia, Ahmedabad and Delhi.
And all the dots in between that join them.

India is love, hate, filth, faith........
......................
...................... and dance!

Dance that tells tales of love and hate.
AND of faith.

India is energetic, bureaucratic, optimistic.
Liberated, oppressive, hegemonic.

But wait.
Look.
Take a deep breath.
Breathe out.
Think about it.
This is just a piece of land- stones, rocks, mountains, rivers, forests...........geography.
But you and me friend, we make it poetry.

India is poetry my friend.
You can hear it in every prayer call.
And chant it when that first red ball is bowled at Wankhede- Sachin!Sachin!

India is poetry.
And music.
Of Baul, Sufi and Carnatic.
If only we would hear it.... but our ears are plugged.
If only we would see it but our eyes are downcast.
If only we would touch it but are thumbs are too busy.
At last,
India is real my friend but this moment..... this moment is fleeting.

You better think hard,act fast, stand tall.
Don't wait for your number to be called.
Lead or follow.
Whisper or bellow.
Kuch toh karo dost.
Yaron chalo !!