Written in 2024 after the horrifying incidents of mass rape in Sandesh Kali, West Bengal, this poem is the author’s salute to the brave people of West Bengal who have proven their courage and tenacity against terrible odds.
The poem is from the book “Leaves of the Poet Tree“ by Dr Ravin Chengappa.
THE TIGER’S TEARS.
This is the story of an empire,
So filled with legend and history.
Once raised to dizzying glory,
Now fallen into the depths of misery.
Bounded by the holy Himalayas,
This land of beauty and plenty,
Ends where the sacred Ganges,
Becomes one with the sea.
The story of its people and past,
Both valiant and brave,
Living now in the present,
As democracy’s own slaves.
Through art, science and reform,
They gave the nation all,
Through its struggles for freedom,
Their leaders rose and stood tall.
Through cyclone and storm,
Flood, famine and drought,
Through partition’s painful pangs,
Vivisection, violence and riot.
These patriots bore it all,
As a new nation was born.
Sadly theirs was not to know,
What the womb of time would spawn.
From the pre-independence
Massacre’s of Noakhali,
Into the post-independence
Horrors of Sandeshkhali.
All through the ages ,
Their rape never seems to end,
Of their women, their wealth,
Their families and friends.
Tormented through two centuries,
Through gender and generations,
By maniacs and fanatics,
By politics and its lunatics.
The molestations and mutilations,
The murders and plunder,
The shredding of their spirit,
Their lives lain asunder.
A helpless population,
Always beaten black and blue.
But to their saffron, white and green,
They resolutely remained true.
Betrayed by their leaders,
In their moments of torment,
Forgotten by their countrymen,
And all those in government.
This then is the story,
That shouldn’t pass on untold,
Of a civilisation in limbo,
As its destiny unfolds.
Their future is uncertain,
But there is one thing I dare say,
Those brave tigers of Bengal,
Shall wipe evil off their bay.
Dr.Ravin Chengappa, February 2024, Jaago Bharath!
