An eon ago the stone was laid
To support the cars and the bullock carts
For little feet to walk and play
To bear the brunt of heat and rain.
For years to come it remained intact
Till it developed a crooked tiny crack,
One too small to see by the naked eye
One too thin to bother those who are passing by.
Seasons went and seasons came,
The dust, the dirt, the heat, the rain,
A little boy riding his father’s car,
Dropped a tiny pip of an unknown plant.
The pip rolled, settling in its new abode:
Safe in the tiny crack on the stone of an important road,
Reached out to the lord to grow,
Startled, the lord loudly spoke-
“From the safety of the crack,
I see that you have sprouted roots and shoots,
Do you know the role the stone plays
In the turning of the day?”
The seed or sprout as you may believe,
Looked up sharply to the lord’s decree,
“Whose day do you wish to save, I pray,
Upon the stones of my freedom’s grave?”
Unsightly was the anger of the lord,
He shook his fists and sharpened his sword,
“For the sake of men who serve the lord
The crack shall not widen for your cause,
And if you insist upon your will
I shall employ mine! I shall have to kill!”
The sprout in the crack rose unfazed,
“The road, the stone, the men, the days,
Whose good shall come over my life and death?
I care not about your sharpened sword
Than to live in darkness, I would prefer a wreath.”
With this the young plant reached out to its reserve,
Seeking the truth of its own words
It pushed the stone on all of its sides
Splitting it in three, the lord saw the bud rise.
In seconds the sword swept the bud away,
But much to the lord’s grave dismay,
The remains of the plant which had been left behind,
Sought the soil in the new crevice.
Today is India’s 74th independence day. Happy independence day to everyone. May all of us find the path to freedom. For what is a nation’s independence, if even one of us is bound; whether it be for the greater good or not, I wish that someday the stone shall crack.
This post was also published in: https://www.readingroomco.com/2020/10/11/the-stone-cracked/
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