Ashok Raina
I’m just used to walking the path.
I’ve wandered in search of dew.
I see how unique this world is.
I’m immersed in it all around me.
Yes, that day is making me realize once again why I suddenly had to take the decision of leaving my own house barefoot and I am questioning this within myself and also searching for the answer that what and how such a situation had arisen at that time that I had to take this decision without thinking and whereas in reality neither I was aware of the path that was coming in front of my eyes nor I had any idea about what kind of situations I might have to face as soon as I stepped on the threshold of the house.
May I become a dewdrop
Hidden among the dewdrops
Dwell the beautiful flowers
If I am connected deeply with whatsoever in my life, it is only Dew who, even after being homeless, gave me such experiences with my bare feet that kept igniting the passion to do something new in my heart and I know that he is still alive in me.
After leaving my home barefoot, I realized how beautiful and pleasant the feeling of home should be, growing up under the shadow of the protection of our own home. The sad story of the situation in which I had to leave my home barefoot has been haunting me again and again.
As soon as one steps out of the four walls of the house, everyone realizes that the path is always difficult, but the irony of helplessness and compulsion was making us more confused and we were forced to do the act without thinking any more than to leave from there.
Made us sit on bushes
And put us to sleep among thorns
What kind of life is this?
Taught us the same lesson
Pain lingered in our hearts
Tears flowed from our eyes
What dreams, desires, visions
and thoughts were there
Buried us in hot boiled stones and sand.
I pray to God every time that no one should ever lose the shadow of their home in life and I wish if I had known this in my childhood before leaving my home, then perhaps I would never have left my home under any circumstances.
There were difficulties at every step, on every path, sometimes the heat tormented us without water under the open sky, sometimes time made us tired by bearing the blows of the monsoons, sometimes our sleep kept getting disturbed due to problems, sometimes even in sleep we felt our dreams flying away due to grief, sometimes we kept craving for drinking water, sometimes we were busy in the search of fundamental rights, our eyes kept getting teary, sometimes we kept trying to control ourselves again and again and sometimes while trying to control ourselves we kept slipping.
However, governments knew perfectly well that a mere subsistence amount of meagre relief was not sufficient to advance one’s life. They could not fight against the violation of their fundamental rights on that basis, nor could they ever approach the courts to defend their injustice. And if, in such a situation, someone like me managed to appeal to the courts for justice, and yet the government failed to comply with the court’s directives, what kind of feelings would a citizen like me harbor toward his country? And how could that possibly be resolved?
Even today, after so many years, tears still flow from our eyes because of the governments’ indifferent attitude. In such circumstances, even if someone like me tried to rise up, instead of providing support, every possible effort was made to deliberately crush them.
If, despite having merit, homeless citizens like me are discriminated against on the basis of religion in getting government jobs and are denied government jobs, then in that situation, I would also like to ask the governments of today, what is the opinion of those who run the state which is called sovereign secular democratic in unity?
And when a homeless urbanite is prevented from working anywhere in his own country, and banks refuse to grant loans under employment schemes, how can urbanites even count as having rights? Furthermore, if urbanites like me are denied access to major central schemes running across the country, how can I truly describe the essence of life in my country? Frankly, I feel powerless.
The whole time was spent thinking about this, tears kept flowing from my eyes and the saddest thing was that the imaginations that were present in me in my youth, the countless dreams that were being revealed day by day, what happened to them, where did those childhood memories of mine go away in such a situation together? This thought takes away the peace of day and sleep of night and that’s all I’ll say. “No one should ever lose the shadow of their motherland in life” |
