To India, My Native Land

I write this to you because you are a special someone to me, not just in 2019 but even before I'd entered my teens.

Dear India,

I loved you then and I love you now.

All I want now is to have you back, but don’t know how!

I write this to you because you are a special someone to me, not just in 2019 but even before I’d entered my teens.

Those bygone years of glory,

It’s now almost just a memory.

The empathy, the gratitude and the Love,

When you were like a symbol of peace – A Mother, A pure dove!

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It is scary to watch faces smeared in blood every now and then.

Can we have those days back, when only colors of Holi covered our fellow brethren.

When travelling was more about the journey than the destination.

When happiness was a smile on the face, No! not an emoticon, just a true emotion.

When houses were safer without security guards.

When our parents sent us to school without an identity card.

When sleep was not a luxury, when money was not needed to make merry.

When a movie was just a story, when there were no mobiles to create a cacophony.

When people reacted less and acted more.

When one was ever ready to heal the others sore.

When people played games and not with each others lives.

When one would not steal honey from another bee hive. When water was clean and milk was pure.

When a neighbor’s happiness worked as our own cure.

When family members dining together wasn’t a sight so rare. When TV was the only sexy affair.

When there were no OYO rooms but lots of shady trees and fresh blooms.

When postcards became emails, but slambooks were still not Facebook and all was well.

When chats were not on the web but over a hot cup of chai.

When without a status update, people around would know what’s in my mind and why.

It’s not that I want those radios back.

It’s not that I want those Floppy Disks in my rack.

It’s not about the Campa Cola or the Gold Spot.

It’s not about the film cameras that we bought.

It’s all about the fading tolerance, loyalty and safety.

It’s all about the fading harmony and humanity.

That’s how you were defined,

In you, a mother, we did find.

When difference in political opinion did not break a relation.

When knowledge was a blessing without the Google search engine.

The inquisitive and creative minds now look like rote learners,

Yet we are hopeful of the same old bright sun in the summers.

You were and will always be my pride and Love.

I still sing, Ek Dil Chahiye That’s Made In India, hoping you will be sent back from heaven above.

While the hope of love never did die,

You could just bounce back and tell me it was all a lie.

Oh India! How I miss thee!

Wish I could find you or you could find me!!

Yours lovingly,

A kid from the 90s.

Image is a still from the music video Made In India

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About the Author

Natasha Perry Thomas

Blogger, Writer and Content Curator. Author of 'Infidelity-An Outrageously Funny Affair and The Ultimate Rom-Com' - available on Kindle. read more...

53 Posts | 241,100 Views

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