No one left to speak out…

I can reminisce too much amidst this debate. In 1973, when Rashtrakavi Dinkar was being felicitated the gyanpith Award, he said, “I kept swinging between Gandhi and Marx. I kept swaying between Ravindranath Tagore and Iqbal. However, when I read Eloit I felt what type of poem is it. The effect of circumstances can be to such an extent. Eliot belongs to a world of prosperity where the soul has slept and the body awake”.
However, looking at the present day conditions it seems that both the worlds exist in India. In these two worlds or societies per say, the way Gandhi and Iqbal have turned into a reflection; it’s not required to explain. Dinkar envisioned India as white and red in colour. He believed that a combination of red and white would be the future India. However in reality, the nation’s majority is wrapped around with a thick drape of fog, which is colourless. The other world still wants it to be red-green-saffron. This reminds me of a poem written by Martin Niemoller, titled ‘First They Came’. Here it goes.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.