To the people

To my dear readers and friends, a long poem in 7 Chants, paying homage to the Freedom Fighters, those people who worked to achieve the independence of India. Also a declaration of love, and the last poem in the Pink Book of Passion. Bharat: how the Indians call India, the unity of a common conscience.

I hope you enjoy it!

With love and care,

Ana Paula Arendt

Delivered to the people

(To Sarojini Naidu and her readers)

I

Freedom fighters¹, they say

seeding justice along all the way

where they find injustice, sorrow, dismay.

Small thought in the beginning

but causing wide revolving storms, bidding:

troubled waters, the risk of drowning.

The seed of justice growing steadily along

the search for truth where the soul belongs

by merely existing, expressing, healing wrongs…

Was it a sin, a crime, a transgression

put a stopper on abuse and oppression

the humble right of bread’s possession,

bite the fruit of a hungry passion?

To be what one wants to be,

to be what others need you to be,

beyond the soot of a decree,

become the spoor of destiny.

II

Freedom fighters they were said

in a movement of swords, words, shields!

to determine and rule oneself instead,

without the disguise of a State blood-fed,

guiding into barren submissive fields—

No! Free people self-led!

In vests of a legitimate glory

the epic verses of Gwalior²,

wild viragos on horseback for their territory,

galloping for the Queen, fierce warriors.

Joining them the last Mughal Emperor,

heir to Mumtaz Mahal’s beauty.

They fought with their weapons,

their bravery made in mehfils songs³,

All of them vanquished, yet still a beacon

of the freedom they passed on.

III

But how still be gentle and humble in heart,

the soul remaining entire, peaceful?

How to survive the season of nothing but draught

without cursing the blessed peepul⁴ ?

In cafes, shrines, railway stations, universities,

courtyards, prayer halls and libraries,

tea houses, bazaars, and temples of old,

under banyan shadows by the ghats of gold…

People shoulder-jostling there to enter

those common footsteps together,

in newspapers a nation’s memory,

magical spaces creating History.

IV

I see the miracle coming

of not disparaging, nor raging

when it comes upon you the cudgel of disdain.

What a beautiful thing, the running

of a meek silence of determination, aging

day after day, in the loins of our veins…

And the renewal of the same thought

in so many different bodies,

in many different landscapes…

A certainty truth taught,

a wider vision beyond our follies,

in the journey of our mistakes.

Freedom, a simple word,

retaining its meaning, even denied,

beyond the reach of prison walls—

repeated, it rusts chains and swords,

and all the errors that history tried

become the reason freedom calls.

V

Ideas fade when repeated.

But freedom, self-determination,

Swaraj⁵, a living consecration,

stays forever newly greeted

in the brave heart and sharpened mind.

In Prayagraj’s Anand Bhavan,

beneath the arches of Aligarh,

in the halls of Santiniketan,

under the trees of Sabarmati,

at the steps of Banaras,

in the lanes of Chandni Chowk,

by the well of Jallianwala Bagh⁶,

in the verandas of Bombay…

Across the Vindhyas’ rebel ridges,

by the eastern seas of Jagannath,

through the tea gardens of Assam,

in the ashrams of Yamuna's dusk,

and in the backwaters of Vaikom…

The streets, mouths and ears

know what they spoke about.

The courts, ink-stained chandeliers

heard the voices casting tyranny out.

The scream, in Law and poetry

once again the cradle of bravery.

Freedom renews its face

in the mist-veiled atmosphere

at the Indian Coffee House, Kolkata’s pace,

Bose making the people his comrades near.

The wave repeats the healing sound

demanding the release of Besant⁷.

In the hasty hands of Gandhi she found

a letter from the people, effervescent…

It crowns the air with golden palaces

from the sweet song of a nightingale⁷

for the market of Hyderabad, Naidu’s ashes,

bringing the broken souls to sail.

Freedom gains fresh new fragrances

in the borrowed grace of Gandhi’s surname,

for a Parsi man in love to cross all distances

and reach the hand of his fair dame.⁸

For a fight again, with or without weapons⁹

For a fight, with or without gains

For no child anymore being threatened,

Fight for rejecting our pain!

VI

Same song, never worn away,

evergreen beneath Chennai’s trees,

wandering still through night and day

with monsoon winds and inland seas.

From Pragjyotisha’s mist and rain

to ancient Kamarupa’s hills¹⁰,

the thought returns again, again,

through quiet hearts and scholar’s quills.

Inside old books and interviews,

beneath the lamp of patient youth,

questioning long accepted views,

crying through the dark for truth.

Truth is simple as the land,

simple as the farmer’s grain:

India belonged within the hands

of those born from her dust and rain.

A royalty not crowned by gold

but service offered without name¹¹,

walking barefoot through the cold,

even through the centuries of shame.

Reivindication mourns the lost.

Leadership commands and guides.

But true loyalty knows the cost

of carrying all peoples’ rights.

A divine and open reign,

never quick to call betrayal

those who bartered swaraj for gain

beneath necessity’s tattered veil.

The third war of independence

is to guard what once was won

against narratives of pretense

undoing victories one by one.

Yet water, patient as a prayer,

outlives the harshness of the stone,

shaping mountains grain by grain

until the coarsest crags are gone.

VII

The vultures will come again,

circling above the wounded plains,

tearing at memory and flesh,

saying all sacrifices fade at last.

Emptied of the renewal of thought,

feeding only upon decay,

hollow rivalries taught,

predators with claws of clay.

Then passion rises once again,

aware of past sorrows, losses and pain,

choosing still the human chain,

to recreate the freedom flame.

Bharat.

The same idea that never wears thin.

Being true to yourself among the noise,

wearing still the ancient thread,

singing once more the people’s voice

the freedom fighters raise to be said.

Never forget

Himalayan snow is still white.

Never forget

Among the centuries’ shifting tone

the place where your purpose thrives,

the place in my heart you call home.

And carrying through dust, revival,

from hand to hand in each survival

–a song delivered to the people.

¹ Freedom fighters: those who made part of the Freedom Movement in India, resulting in its independence in 1947.

² Gwalior Fortress, known by its impregnability and defensive structure. The fort dates back to the 5th century, perhaps earlier making it one of the oldest defense forts in India. Mughal Emperor Babur said Gwalior was “pearl amongst the fortresses of Hindusthan, and not even the winds could touch its masts”. It was the stage of the First War of Independence (Indian Rebellion of 1857) in the Northern province, Uttar Pradesh, and in the Central Province, Madhya Pradesh. Rani of Jhansi (Queen), (1827–30-1858), died fighting in Gwalior. There is a statue erected at the cenotaph (Samadhi) of Lakshmibai on her horse at Chhatri of Rani Lakshmibai in that place. Also Jhalkaribai (1830 – 1858), Dhalit advisor to the Queen, died in the Battle of Jhansi, and holds a statue in Gwalior. Uda Devi Pasi (1830-1857) was o an Indian woman freedom fighter who participated in that First War, and died in the Battle of Sikandar Bagh, in Lucknow, where she holds a statue. As for the man, Matadin Bhangi, a Dhalit, is said to have planted the seeds of the revolt. Also Mangal Pandey is considered the first martyr of the 1857 revolt, whose rebellion sparked the wider uprising. And the most distinguished freedom fighter in the First War of Independence was Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor and a symbolic figure of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against British rule. A poet in Urdu and a monarch stripped of real military power, as well as a descendant of Shah Jahan, husband of Mumtaz Mahal, he was exiled by the British to Rangoon after the revolt was defeated. He wrote: “So long as the soldiers retain their faith and pride/The Indian sword will not relent…”( Kanda, K.C. Bahadur Shah Zafar: And His Contemporaries. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd., 2007, p. 3.). This is a non-exhaustive list of them.

³ Mehfil or Bazm is a formal venue where indoor recreational activities such as poetic symposiums (mushaira), singing, music, and dance are entertained in parts of the Indian subcontinent, specially in Urdu. It is part of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb culture.

⁴ The peepul (or peepal, Ficus religiosa) is a large, sacred fig tree native to the Indian subcontinent.

⁵ Although the word Swaraj means "self-rule", Gandhi gave it the content of an integral revolution that encompasses all spheres of life: "At the individual level Swaraj is vitally connected with the capacity for dispassionate self-assessment, ceaseless self-purification and growing self-reliance.” (M. K. Gandhi, Young India, 28 June 1928, p. 772).

⁶ Jallianwala Bagh was the site of the 1919 Amritsar Massacre, where British troops fired on an unarmed gathering, killing hundreds. The massacre deeply shocked India and radicalized the anti-colonial movement, influencing figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. At the well of Jallianwala Bagh, people leapt to escape the bullets. From Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi began the Salt March until reaching Dandi.

⁷ To the non-Indian public: along the first decades of the 20th Century, came the second generation of freedom fighters. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), a lawyer, came from South Africa, where he fought against discrimination, and led national movements like Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience, and Quit India using non-violence (Satyagraha). In the first decades, he wrote letters for the British authorities to release Indian nationalists pro-independence who were arrested, like Annie Besant. But Bhagat Singh was an armed socialist revolutionary of the Indian anti-colonial struggle, remembered for armed actions against British rule (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) and for his execution in 1931,  martyr who inspired the youth against British tyranny. Also Subhas Chandra Bose founded the Indian National Army (INA) and gave the slogan "Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!”. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, known as the “Iron Man of India,” played a crucial role in freedom struggle and later in uniting princely states. Chandra Shekhar Azad, also an armed revolutionary of the independence movement, associated with the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, vowed never to be captured alive by the British and died in a gunfight with colonial police in 1931. Bal Gangadhar Tilak stated “Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it,” popularizing the demand for self-rule. Jawaharlal Nehru was a prominent Congress leader, true friend of Gandhi, who became India's first Prime Minister. Lala Lajpat Rai, known as “Punjab Kesari”, he was a pivotal leader in the extremist wing. Dr. Rajendra Prasad also was an active leader and first President of India. Sarojini Naidu, known as the "Nightingale of India," author of the Golden Threshold and of the famous poem invoking the people, “The market of Hyderabad”, she was active in the Non-Cooperation and Salt Satyagraha movements. Madam Bhikaji Cama, known as the "Mother of the Indian Revolution," she hoisted the first version of the Indian flag abroad. Kanaklata Barua was 17-year-old martyr who led a procession during the Quit India Movement. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian Dhalit who was a jurist, economist, social reformer and politician who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on the debates of the Constituent Assembly of India and the first draft of Sir Benegal Narsing Rau. He was the first Law and Justice minister of independent India, during the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General of India, serving until the abolition of that office upon India becoming a republic in 1950. He was the only Indian-born Governor-General or Viceroy of India named by the British King, and also an activist of India’s independence. Mahadev Desai: the personal secretary of Mahatma Gandhi, arrested in 1921, when running The Independent newspaper, after publishing a hand-written version, when the British confiscated the printing press.  He died of a heart attack and was cremated in the Aga Khan Palace, in Pune. Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi, has also a Samadhi (resting memorial) in the Aga Khan Palace.This is a non-exhaustive list of them.

⁸ Ferozi Ghandy was a Parsi, zoroastran, also arrested as part of the Freedom Movement. He asked the hand of Indira Nehru in marriage, denied by her father, when she was 16. Mahatma Gandhi, a romantic, then gave his surname to Gandhy, so as to borrow the prestige he needed to marry Indira Gandhi. They married in a vedic rite. Both Mahatma and Indira Gandhi died in office, Mahatma Gandhi by the hands of Nathuram Godse, Indian nationalist, and Indira Gandhi by the hands of her 2 body guards who were Sikh. In the same night that she died, she delivered a speech saying that “I don't mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation”. Indira studied at the Vishwa Bharati in Santiniketan, which became Visva-Bharati University in 1951. During an interview with Rabindranath Tagore, the great poet of India, he named Indira Priyadarshini, which means "looking at everything with kindness" in Sanskrit.

⁹ Then came the Second War of Independence, during  1942 Quit India Movement. Initiated by Mahatma Gandhi during the war, this, in conjunction with Britain's weakened state, was a massive blow to colonial rule. The Indian National Army (INA) was then led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and fought alongside Japanese forces against the British in Southeast Asia, aimed at securing India’s independence. The aftermath of the World War II saw profound discontent, highlighted by the INA trials at the Red Fort, which became a significant rallying point for freedom, resulting thus in a sentiment of nationalism. The combined pressures of the freedom struggle, economic exhaustion, and a global shift in power directly led to the British military withdrawal and the Indian Independence Act of 1947. 

¹⁰ From ancient Pragjyotisha and Kamarupa came resistance in many forms: the Battles of Battle of Imphal and Battle of Kohima in 1944 became decisive fronts of the war, as the Indian National Army and Japanese forces attempted to enter British India through Manipur and Nagaland.

Rani Gaidinliu, still a teenager, led resistance against British rule among the Naga peoples and later became an anticolonial heroine. Assam also nurtured networks of students, tea workers, newspapers and civil movements connected to the wider struggle for Indian independence.

¹¹ He was an Indian poet, philosopher and Nobel laureate who imagined freedom as a spiritual and civilizational awakening beyond nationalism alone. He travelled across Asia defending cultural dialogue among colonized peoples and warning against the violence of imperial domination. He believed Asian societies could renew themselves through learning, dignity and humanism rather than imitation of European empires. His songs, schools and writings became part of the moral imagination of India’s independence movement. He became part of the moral imagination of India’s freedom movement.