By RK Lakhi Kant
There`s clarity now in my vision
of the world moving around me.
The instance is an old man
coming out of the jungle with
his load of firewood for the day
and placing it on the sidewalk
to rest for a while with some
friends, also chatting and
resting there.
The juxtaposition of life
speeding by on the freeway
and another at walking pace
shows how much Indian
conditions have deteriorated
over the last half century.
The economists are exclaiming
they are on top now, so much
is the economic upswing
in the country.
But those who look at life
otherwise know how much
misery is being created when
fuel for cooking is
being equated in terms
of rupees and not with
the hard work required
in cutting wood and carrying it.
It makes me excited to think
how much better it would be
if everyone started living
at a pace the old man is walking at.
I feel instant ease
with everything around me
when I think this way,
and conclude – why
join this madness
they have created and
force us to live in.