Singing Across The Borders

We refuse to be enemies.
We refuse to use your words,
claim your politics,
accept your versions of history.
We will wear our anger
like a shroud,
we will hold our defiance
like a shield,
we will carry our compassion
like a sword.
We refuse to be enemies.
We refuse to believe
that hate is justified,
that peace is weak,
that conflict is endless.
We will sing
across the borders,
we will march
across the divisions,
we will fly our peace
like a flag.
We refuse to be enemies.

As a young undergraduate, Anasuya Sengupta famously wrote a poem, Silence, for Hillary Clinton during her 1995 India visit. It came to be quoted across the world by Clinton. A Rhodes scholar, PhD student and feminist, Anasuya continues to write poetry, and contributed this unpublished poem to Outlook's Independence Day issue.

Muh ki Baat (Neem ka Ped) (Old Doordarshan Serial Title Song)

मुह की बात सुने हर कोई, दिल के दर्द को जाने कौन?
आवाजों के बाज़ारों में खामोशी पहचाने कौन?
मुह की बात..

सदियों-सदियों वही तमाशा, रास्ता रास्ता लम्बी खोज.
लेकिन जब हम मिल जाते है, खो जाता है जाने कौन!!

वो मेरा आइना है और मैं उसकी परछाई हूँ
मेरे ही घर में रहता है, मुझ जैसा ही जाने कौन

किरण किरण अलसता सूरज, पलक पलक खुलती नींदे
धीरे धीरे बिखर रहा है, जर्रा जर्रा जाने कौन?

This song “Muhn Ki baat sune har koi” by Jagjit Singh from the serial “Neem Ka Ped” that was telecasted on Doordarshan few years back. One of the most priced composition of Nida Fazli.

As The River Flows

I know
long ago
the river used to speak.
But when he realised
every drop of pain
flows above horizon of words
he surrendered to silence.

People came to his bosom
creating to destroy
and named it civilization.

People came to his bosom
looking for the meaning in destruction
and called it history.

More the time flows
more the time remains still.
More the things change
more the things remain the same.

The drops of pain
mounting on the bank –
will it overflow…
as the River flows?

It is written by Bidyut Kotoky making a movie titled Ekhon Nedekha Nadir Xipare, which literally means “Across an unseen river”. Bidyut has written his thoughts on the idea behind the film quite poetically.The premise of the film: In the India’s state of Assam, during the last 2 decades, over 15,000 lives have been lost to insurgency and an unknown number of people remain traceless till date…