(In
memory of the thousands who lost their lives in the Mumbai deluge of July 26,
2005)
There was a dream I saw last night
That showed me human's helplessness and nature’s
might
I got up and cried aloud
‘People, don’t be so proud!’
‘These concrete jungles that you’ve created
Is certainly not what our ancestors wanted
From co-existence, you moved on to sole-existence
And further you went on testing nature’s
resistance!’
I woke up and revisited my dream
That showed me that nature is supreme
Should you now ask what I saw,
Was it in my room, a wild cat’s paw?
It was just another morning; who knew it would turn
into a day of mourning…
I got ready to set out of my home, and I heard
someone groaning
Oh! ‘twas my friend; very much in pain
She tried to free herself, but in vain.
She was caught in the violent waters that engulfed
this dream city
Oh! Her state was such a pity
The more she tried to come out and above, the more
the water on her head was crowned,
People were shouting, my friend was lost, perhaps
she had drowned…
People ran; they cried for rescue
But alas! even the authorities seemed to have no
clue!
The media reported of a deluge
But not a single soul knew that the effect would be
so huge.
A hitherto dream city of Mumbai was shaken
Lives were lost; nobody knew who was mistaken
The state of affairs was pathetic, if only I could
explain
The intensity of loss, the plight of the people,
and their pain.
“How could nature do this to us?”
Questioned a co-passenger in the bus
I had no answer but another question, whatever it
was worth
Why
did we this to our earth?
We constructed buildings on the land, and moved on
towards the sea
What mattered to each of us was- MY AMBITION &
ME
Nature is resilient, not negligible
If we forget it, ‘t will show us how long we are
able
This dream of mine, had once turned into reality
I couldn’t stop it, just wondered at nature’s
magnanimity
But I made a promise, a pledge that is the
need of the hour
That we will care for our Earth, for its bounties
to shower
That we shall preserve nature and its resources,
and not use it limitlessly at our beckon
And it’s high time we turn our words into action..
