Parallel Flashback
Chahak Mittal is an independent journalist. She was previously a Feature Correspondent at The Pioneer newspaper. She's a passionate writer and her works are all about society, cinema, arts and culture.
The tripod was set
For an informal tête-à-tête
I flipped open, not just my laptop but
Also someone’s memories of the past, which cut
To today, were just some horrors of the bygone,
Some acts that couldn’t be undone.
The first question was enough
Said the Sardar in a voice not so tough,
It was the roughest time he’d seen
For nothing could match the scene
Of a father being shot by a bullet
And witnessed by his son, who was only eight.
When the location is explained in detail
It pulls him back through still, a tightly attached brail
Lost a home, lost a livelihood
He questioned, “Why should I remember my childhood?”
Living the life of an immigrant
Is like looking at the scraps as a Holy grant
“We’d come back, I was sure,
Who knew that only my vision was pure?”
If it wasn’t for India, who else will it be for?
Said some of those, unaware of the shore
He believed; this wasn’t what they deserved
After all that they had persevered
Britishers had ruled for such a long while
That it made their unity too fragile
It was hurt, it was shattered
He said, “I think human life was the last thing that mattered.”
The Sardar hasn’t appreciated mobile phones ever
Said they take away the peace forever
However, today, in 2021, the age of demise,
Where death seems similar to the 1947 premise,
Unattended, uncared for, negligent
There are few who are being resilient.
He said, “Your phone is currently helping many in need,
Perhaps, if we had phones, I could at the time call Waheed,
My only friend, now in another land.”
At that time, “We picked up the swords,”
Swore to never mince anymore words
This time, pick up the gadget, but do it for the “right use,” he said,
People need aid, people need bread
“Who said History doesn’t repeat?”
Citizens always fall prey to politicians’ conceit
The collapse seems inevitable, and just a comparison,
“This time, the truth is as real as the vision”
Yes, the system is shattered
Perhaps, to them, human lives never mattered.
Image Source: Pixabay.com
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