AGAIN, BHARAT

 

Prof. V. V. Ramanadham

 

May Bharat (India) shine again

As an eternal flame on earth;

May men behave as angels

With earth in glow as heaven.

 

May it shape into Kanw’s hermitage

Where deer and tigers played as friends;

May it be the Asoka tree

Which offered light, desires subdued.

 

May today and yesterday

Move in siklful blend;

May union with feminine grace

Emerge’ twist east and west.

 

May it stand like the blue sky

Which, while breaking, gives others life;

May it be the abode of God

With incense in gentle fragrance.

 

“May the diseased branches drop

On the ground in prompt rhythm;

May fresh flowers flourish

In every spring with beauty.

 

May the ocean gush ashore

The hordes of hidden gems;

May the mines yet not dug

Open themselves up fully.

 

May great learning be redeemed

From lapse in the bowels of time;

May slighting cease of old cultures

With little thought of understanding.

 

May flouting doubts cease to be

That Mahatma Gandhi did live once;

May children be firmly informed

That Vyasa and Valmiki did exist.

 

If ever our ancestors come down

May this seem their old land;

At the minimum may they not regret

Their nostalgic descent.

 

May noble hearts flourish

That are offered to the mother;

May sleaze that squeezes the mother

For selfish ends disappear.

 

May Bharat (India) shine again

As an eternal flame on earth;

May we, with pride, proclaim

That we are the progeny of Bharat.

 

(A translation by the author of his poem in Telugu)

 

 

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