The Fortunate Indian

“You’re a lucky chap!” said my father,

Why he said so, my 5-year-old brain couldn’t gather.

Further, he adds, “I am glad that you were born after 1947;”

“The India you’re born in, unlike mine, is a tree of heaven”.

Dropping me to school used to be his moment of pride,

Traveling in the front seat of his bicycle, used to be my favorite ride.

When stuck with a mathematical problem, my father would apologize,

“I am an uneducated man, with petty fields of wheat and rice”.

 

“You’re a lucky chap!” said my granddad,

“People now won’t mind shaking your hand”.

Now, this fact was unbearable,

How could people categorize my family to be untouchable!

The fact that my family witnessed discrimination felt very wrong,

But their survival stories made me mentally strong.

 

“You’re a lucky chap!” said my mother,

“You get to help my son in earning bread and butter”.

Unlike my wife, my mother always kept her head covered,

My elders let my wife follow her dreams, undeterred.

But my wife has got other worries,

Let me bring back my sister before those greedy animals kill her, she hurries.

 

“You’re a lucky chap!” said my best mate,

My city life is what with which he wants to relate.

He is envious,

Naturally, the distinction between his lifestyle and mine is outrageous!

Leaders. Oh, leaders! Listen to my plea,

Don’t let people like me disrespect their hometowns and flee!

 

“You’re a lucky chap!” I say it to my son,

“That I am!” he says with a tinge of pun.

Ohh these generation gaps!

Only they explain how times elapse!