The Mask !!

Randhir Thiyam
Oh Mask, you chameleon of democracy!
Draped in carnival shades,
you repaint your face daily—
red at rallies, white in temples,
green in the markets,
black in the backroom deals.

Neither bombs crack you,
nor rebukes pierce your hide.
Agitations roar, yet you sip tea,
unmoved, behind your layers of leather—
thicker than crocodile skin,
shinier than a dictator’s smile.

O Mask of politics,
you wear not one face,
but a thousand rented smiles.
Your camouflage is not just survival,
it is the art of deception,
the theatre of power—
and we, the audience,
still clap at your masquerade.