An Ode to the Motherland
…and a prayer for the world
Reflections on the 79th Year of India’s Independence from the British Raj
"India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition" — Mark Twain
Namaste Readers,
It is needless to say that at heart I am a spokesperson for my country’s myriad beauty. I have confide in you, my love for its rustic old-world charm, every time I write here — the winding roads climbing the steep hills held in the eternal gaze of the majestic Himalayas in the north; the dusty roads narrowing through crowded little hamlets with coconut palms and banana groves, and the endless shores huddled between the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean along the southern peninsula; the stories of legendary battles to wade off intruders, and the folklores of Rajput castles still drifting over the great sand dunes of the Aravalli in the west; and my beloved Eastern Ghats — paddy fields and wetlands inhabited by hundreds of living species, mangroves of Sundarbans haunted by the ghostly presence of the Bengal tigers, and cascading tea gardens reminiscent of the colonial era in the Dooars — my home overlooking the mighty Bay of Bengal in the east. I love this country.
Many ancestors have willed this land into existence. From farmers to artisans, from bards to revolutionaries, from Himalayan yogis to every single mother who birthed them — they stitched this wonder of a civilisation together with every deliberate action. At our core, we are a collective of simple and generous beings who preached the value of non-materialism, spirituality, community-centric living, love for all beings, and finding our place within the family of things in this animistic world — before the Beat poets, Beatles and the counterculture made it fashionable. I am the proud progeny of that ancestry.
But I am also concerned — about corruption and pollution, about sustainability and growth, about equity and poverty, about separatist politics and propaganda, about access and power, about healthcare and safety, about womanhood and gender hate. It is a big, wild, and beautiful country, but it is not perfect. There is still work that needs to be done, policies and laws that need to be functional, friction and class movements that need to evolve, perspectives that need to change.
Today marks India’s 79th year of freedom from our former colonialist. Our fast-evolving relationship with the world is proof of our willingness to coexist in peace with the world’s evolving geopolitics. Our profound inclination towards eco-centricism and conservation efforts, especially in the North-East region, is reflective of our emphasis on Nature as a mother with her own agency and volition. Our entrenched patriarchal paradigm is slowly shifting towards an inclusive and non-binary worldview.
A folk artist playing a traditional string instrument Ravanahatha with proficiency and grace, early on a winter morning in front of the Udaipur Lake
The new generation of Indians are waking up to the importance of ownership — working around traditions while maintaining a pulse with the modern world. We are waking up to a sense of independence from our collective thinking while also acknowledging the sacrifices our ancestors made and the pain they endured, for us to stand beyond the chains — not only to enjoy our liberty but to straighten our spine and fight for everyone who is still bound.
So today, on this occasion of almost eight decades of spinning around the sun since the day of India’s Independence, I stand in power, freedom, and reclamation of the same sky my ancestors once prayed to, and send my prayer to this hurting world—
May Palestine be free again,
and Ukraine regain sovereignty.
May children stop starving in war,
and may their parents stop dying before their time.May the African continent rise again
to the peace and greatness it once knew.
May the Middle East loosen the chains of oil oligarchy,
and the western bloc lay down its hate towards immigrants.May the spirit serpent of Amazon unfell her trees,
and the Arctic ice unmelt its grief,
May the oceans breathe free of plastic and poison.
May wild species not vanish into the pages of history,
and the coral reefs bloom in colours the world has not yet seen.May hunger leave the bellies of all beings,
and the fires in forests fall silent.
May fertile lands not turn to dust,
and may clean water run to every mouth and root.
May nuclear weapons are laid to waste,
and racism wash away from every heart.May women and girls walk this earth in safety and dignity,
and truth be stronger than propaganda.
May the climate crisis meet a just and united human will,
and may greed lose its grip
on our politics, on our planet,
and on us.
Even from within the shadows of the yesteryears’ glory of my nation, I invite you with an open embrace into our wisdom traditions of solidarity, peace, love, and belonging.
Vande Mātaram! Happy Independence Day to India!
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So moved by these words and grateful to have found you here -- thank you 💛
The beauty of your prayer brought tears to my eyes! Thank you for being there loving and tender! All the best for you!