A poet is the product of the politics of his/her times. Here’s Nalini, as a Citizen Journalist poet, on the current issue of demonetisation and its effects on the polity, for Different Truths.
We, who sit straddle, must move
Shake off complacency
And take sides
by either queuing outside defunct ATMs
with moaning mob gather to collect
Their pittance outside cashless banks
Or pooh, pooh their growling stomachs
Pinched faces, sore legs and broken spirits.
Selfish beasts! Why can’t they
Just die in national interest
Collateral damage for greater good
Soldiers do it all the time
Why can’t women and children too?
Ungrateful, unpatriotic nincompoops.
No bridging this ever widening chasm
between plastic money and cashless transactions
and obsolete cash with no respite in sight
so dissent and speak up even if it’s the last thing you do
For when we do not speak up for the oppressed
We side up with the tyrant.
©Nalini Priyadarshani
Photos from the internet.
Nalini Priyadarshni is a feminist poet, writer, translator, and educationist though not necessarily in that order who has authored Doppelganger in My House and co-authored Lines Across Oceans with late D. Russel Micnhimer. Her poetry, prose and photographs have appeared in numerous literary journals, podcasts and international anthologies including The Lie of the Land published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. A nominee for the Best of The Net 2017, she lives in Punjab, India, and moonlights as a linguistic consultant.
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