The carnival of democracy

A carnival

As far as the eye can see, and even beyond,
I see a surge of people who are part of this.
Not only those who belong to this earth,
but all the three realms of this universe
are part of this.
This is a carnival.

The earth, trees, air and water,
even our laughter, tears,
and all our songs are in it.
And you say that you have no clue
who all are involved!

The shining history of our forefathers,
folklore, legends, myths of the people of this land,
our hymns, our patience, our hope,
the divine word, the worldly songs,
our wisdom, our prayers, they all are in it.
And you tell me you don’t know anything!

Everyone wonders,
where all that we have lost has gone.
Our courage,  our warmth, our joy, our grit,
that faith in the teachings of the Guru

Who can unite the lost and the living?
who redeems the body and the soul?
But for the grace of the Guru.
Behold the miracle!

Life that was worthless, without a purpose till now,
is worthy and beautiful all over again.
This is a carnival

Our past, present, and future are here.
Here are Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist, Jains and Sikhs.
In this are things that you can see
as well as those that lie beyond your vision.

This is a carnival,
A wave, a struggle, a celebration.
Here there is anger, pain, conflict,
even that question is also here,
the one that history will ask you one day.
And you don’t even know who all are involved in this!

This is no crowd, it’s a congregation of souls.
This is the meaning of a sentence in motion,
This is the order of words. Yes, this is a kind of yatra,
a procession, but not like a festive one.
This is a caravan of followers,
initiated disciples of a guru.
Leaving behind the ‘I’ , ‘me,’
they are moving towards ‘we the people.’

In this are those lessons we’ve learnt over the ages.
Fourteen orders of Sufi fakirs are in this.

Let me tell you an innocent, heartwarming tale.
Yesterday, a young girl from Delhi called to say,
this place will be desolate
when you return home.

There’ll be chaos of traffic but no camaraderie.
The rows of people serving langar won’t be there.
There will be no charm on the faces
of those running to reach home.
What will we do then?

Our eyes were moist then
What love is this! What a carnival!

May you return home, all happy.
May truth and victory be on your side in this battle.
May you bring a new destiny to this earth,
a new feeling, a fresh perspective, a new solution,
a symbol of love, simplicity and harmony.

I wish the time for the mother and son
to reunite comes. Here is a carnival.

As far as the eye can see, and even beyond,
I see a surge of people who are part of this.
Not the people of this earth alone,
but all the three realms of the universe
are part of this.
This is a carnival.