No Escape from the Real World

 K Radhakumar

The headlines remind me of the old adage:
The youth of today
Are the pillars of society tomorrow.
I think I am not a father figure in my locality
But one of the many drunken drivers
Of the municipal corporation.
What have I done for my children?
No bank balance
No congenial atmosphere for their education
No nothing
I am nobodaddy, I fear.
Who cares what my children think?
Who cares if I live or I die?
I am not bothered about these things;
Let the philosophers do, as is their wont.
I am somebody
Who was born on a certain day
And who will die on a certain day.

Suicide bomber!
Killing hundreds of practicing Christians
On the Easter Sunday!
Bombs raining down every nook and corner
Of pockets of resistance groups
During the Ramadan!
Jerusalem oh! Jerusalem
To me, you are an image
Of a mother weeping over the death of her child.
Our children
Who were born at the turn of this century
(Our sweet youth of today) –
They will record their votes
For election of their representatives in the Parliament –
This is for the first time in their life.
The younger generation has been exposed
To the system of universal adult franchise!
They have been exposed to electioneering
To criminalization of politics.
I do not know what they will vote for
When I have handed down
A society addicted to corruption on a platter?