By Nandita De nee Chatterjee
'Tamas'! Govind Nihalani's shocker..
A little girl jolted out of the daydream.
Indian pride shattered into splinters.
Horrors of the past,
ugly faces of mankind.
An awakening I never wanted.
Dad on one of those last trains, travelling with the last British troop from Lahore.
A young Air Force officer
enroute to Red Fort
for the flag hoisting
from Lahore.
Horrors he's witnessed.
His silence is deafening.
My illusions of brotherhood
lying in a pool of blood
on the TV screen.
Idealistic generations built on dreams,
ignorant of sacrifices,
brutalities,
the pathos of parents
who lived through it all.
Unsympathetic children
who didn't hear their screams,
or wipe their tears.
Division of a country,
birthing of a nation.
Independence bought dear!