An Ode to Nirbhaya, the Fearless

- by Manish Chand | Manish Chand

Nirbhaya, the Fearless One,
The radiant dreamer, yearning to touch the sky
Assaulted, wounded and stricken,
Your body the Cross, you die;
So that we may live, love and lie.

Mourning can’t go on forever,
Memories of that night you can’t sever,
Leaving us in a deep-down wintry darkness, lights shiver.
Love is a burning hunger
No Body can quench;
But that brutal night has an unbearable stench;
Memories entrap us, desire a lovely wench.

I am not spinning a morality tale,
Those who bruise the spirit go to hell.
But how do we know anything survives,
In this world of hustling, buy and sell?
Tonight, the benighted world is athirst for redemption
Love-making, consensual or forced, will not do
What kind of love is that?
in which there is neither passion nor compassion?
Only this insane hunger, the aching flesh.

So pray for us, the debauched, decadent and depraved
The benighted spirit is athirst for redemption,
‘One drop of healing will do, half a drop’
In this frenzied, surreally self-obsessed TV chatter
Intercede with the angels above,
For some real transfiguring love;
One drop of healing will do, half a drop
Reclaim the night, give us hope.

Author Profile

Manish Chand
Manish Chand
Manish Chand is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO, Centre for Global India Insights, an India-based think tank focused on global affairs.

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