India, why do I love thee
Let me recount the reasons;
I love every sage who roamed
Thy forests and sat with kings
Giving us philosophies that satisfy
Those lost in thoughts and silence
And those swayed by emotion
As also those who itch for action;
I love thy Avatars straddling
The divide between infinity
And the all-too-human finitude
Filling us with cosmic wonder
About what’s real and what’s false;
I love thy all-too ancient history
And mind-stupefying mythology
Transporting one to realms
Challenging imagination and credulity
With one-dimensional characters
Illustrating some deeper truths
Escaping one’s intellectual gaze;
I love thy dharma shastras, too,
Be they ever so error-prone
For their chutzpah to reflect
The kaleidoscopic dharmas
In monochromatic light
Traversing across centuries
Throwing some light after all;
I forgive thee for thy vices
Without me needing to dwell
On them jarringly, and upsetting
This adoration for thee now
That billows in my bosom.
Know Thyself 