My country is a country,
A single entity I thought,
Apparently it’s not!
My country is my country,
My very own I thought,
But some agree,
Entire country is mine not?
My State or My country?
Which more my own?
When I connect the dots,
With pain I groan.
When both are mine,
Why should I explain?
To random countrymen,
For being in their lane?
Which is my place?
Shillong, where I grew up?
But they say it belonged,
To completely another lot,
I was an outsider then,
Never been an insider even?
Questions about my own space,
How do I find my haven’s gate?
Which is my place?
City I graduated from?
But there I was treated,
Liked a wild wilder beast lone.
Looked at skeptically,
As though a monkey feral,
Forced to fight to belong,
Never accepted in real!
Which is my place?
The city I work?
Where I’m treated like a scum,
With no right to walk,
I pay my tax, I pay my rent,
Who are you to ask me off this land?
Not born here so what I say,
Who asked your permission anyway?
A country fine,
Unity in diversity divine,
I was taught and I thought,
Was a fact and true!
But regional chauvinists prove,
All were untrue,
One India is but a notion false,
Pseudo-nationalists, this corrosion, cause!
But I don’t care,
What they say,
I belong where
My heart finds its sway.
I respect all regions,
Not knowing all languages is not treason,
Regional chauvinist, my friend I’ll live in your land,
Make peace with thee else get me hanged!
