विभूतिमूर्ति

Shared dreams
- Ms Meira Kumar
Hon’ble Speaker, Loksabha

The rainbow on your eyelids,
Its colours swim in my eyes.
Between you
And me -
O, how are the dreams shared!

I think - and
Have been thinking for long,
And know not
Where to find that city
Of my dreams?
My soul restless,
All packed up, ready to go,
And settle there.

Moment to moment,
Tormented, thrown out,
O you, who live on the margin!
How long will you hold out,
How much poison swallow?

In the fields and barns,
Factories, open quarries,
In plains or among rocks,
In magnificent palaces,
Or in petty tenements,
In distant villages,
Or nearby townships,
On desert sands,
Or out among sea waves,
From one corner of the earth
To the other – wherever my sight goes,
It’s the magic of your mighty hands
That casts its spell.

O, daily plodders on live coal,
O, tight-rope walkers,
Change your destinies with your hands.

Let there be a roar,
Let the tornados rise.
Worship the work,
Not the birth-mark,
Cast off all else,
O my co-city dwellers!
Come,
Let’s dash against the barriers.
You and I alone have that trust.
Ours is the strongest bond,
That commonality of our dreams.

[ A Hindi poem translated into English By Dr Mangal Murty]