This poem published for the first time in The World Sikh News dwells on the challenges of being single and dedicated.  Referring to Guru Nanak’s companion Bhai Mardana and his Rabab, the author talks of being steadfast in the face of challenges, difficulties and “being not sure”. Relive the past and recast your future!

Outnumbered

Alluding to the troublesome past
Referring to history’s canons vast,
Worried about a future collective,
Attempts are made to arouse fears.
Appeals are fed to raw emotions
Bringing folks to the brink of tears.

A pall of guilt fuels the moment’s heat.
Logic and sense take a backseat.
Worth of being is belittled to nought,
The ground beneath feet feels shaken.
One questions one’s own righteousness
for each and every step hitherto taken.

A take on the ‘next world’, some claims tall
‘We are outnumbered’, is the root call.
The ways are sought to add to the count.
The call is certainly to convert the blind
from partial, full, or colour-blindness
Of one sort or other to another different kind.

Wake up, begin today, it’s still not too late.
Scale all heights, write your own fate.
Now recall a companion carrying a rabab
throughout the walks and for small chatter.
Was there anyone else accompanying him?
The number did not, and does not matter.