On our 61st Independence Day
by Ravinder Malhotra on Aug 15, 2008 10:24 AM

We are thrilled, that India has

A constellation of billionaires

We are thrilled our companies have

Their sights on global wares

We exult that despite

The West’s economic meltdown,

Our middle class buys apartments

At prices their parents frown

And march on into the malls,

To buy exotic creams

And fly with gay abandon

Beyond their parents dreams

This is one India showcased

In glittering sheen and growth

But another lurks in its shadow

Where life’s of little worth

Debt ridden farmers kill

Themselves in hopeless despair

And poverty forces thousands

To beg everywhere

The future where is pegged to

Maybe a good monsoon

But where the spiralling prices

Eat into their earnings soon

Hungry children drop out of school

And suffer everyday

Die of diseases that can be cured

Where misery holds its sway

Which is the real India?

My countrymen tell me now

61 years of independence

Oh India celebrates how?

………� Ravinder Malhotra 15.08.2008

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