Shhh…
Shhh…
Quiet, that’s right… silence…
The heart may pine to shout
Against the heinous acts, no doubt
Just an ethnic violence, a tremor
They do touch deep and hurt within
But shhh…
Far far in the North-eastern state
And you in God’s land, untouched!
So just be calm, and quiet…
Meitei or Kuki or Naga
All sound just the same
Tribes in a ghastly tale
With neither head nor tail.
Killed or burnt, hurt or lost,
They’re only numbers, just figures
Their Gods ruthlessly displaced
From their ‘safe’ sanctum sanctorum
But shhh… it is them, their Gods…
Women stripped and molested,
Relations chopped before eyes
Paraded naked, groped in group
And gang-raped!
Shhhh….
Not the word, we speak not the word!
Humanity hangs its head in shame
Fauna knows no such monsters…
But shhh… it’s neither you nor me
Let’s cuddle back into our cocoons
Let the warmth comfort us
That’s it my dear… be silent, be quiet…
-Arya Gayathri is the manager at SBI, a passionate writer, national-level merit scholar, and Bharatanatyam dancer, weaving stories and rhythm into her journey.
