VALSA GEORGE

 

 

India’s Unity in Diversity

 

 We Indians inherit the same land

 And inhale the same air

 But talk in different tongues

 And live in different terrains.

 

Our land is an epitome of unity in diversity.

 

Abounding in legends, myths and folklore,

ours is a potpourri of culture and tradition

with diverse factors assorted together

disseminating a rare fragrance.

 

Our staple food is rice and curry.

But we have a rich variety of cuisines

ranging from sweetmeats to spicy stuff.

Dosa, chole bhatura, aloo paratha, roti

paneer, biriyani, naan, chaat- all these

present a true spectrum of our food diversity.

 

Down the ages, religious practices and ethnic creeds

have been embedded into our psyche. 

While some worship a single god,

some turn to umpteen gods,

and we pray in different postures

squatting, kneeling, even lying prostrate.

 

Religious rituals and state festivals,

music and dance, like Carnatic music

and kathakali, bhangra and Manipuri

enhance collective joy and solidarity.                                

 

Our land, being one of religious plurality,

many religions co- exist, people following

Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, et al.

With a secular outlook, each one is free

to believe and profess the creed of his choice.

Rubbing out all trace of intolerance,

temples, mosques and churches huddle together.

 

India’s geographical diversity

makes it a much sought after tourist destination.

We have snow clad mountain peaks,

vast expanse of lush green prairies,

arid deserts and fertile plains,

tropical forests and sandy beaches.

 

With a mosaic of tradition and ethnic practices,

our policy is one of integration and adaption

not annihilation or extermination.

 

We stay not in isolation, but in harmony

sitting and supping together from a common table,

sharing rain dreams in blistering summer,

riding on sun’s bright beams in pouring rain,

and huddling together when calamities strike.

 

Though dissensions and disputes occasionally rise,

we pick up the scattered shards to make the puzzle complete.

 

Lulling Symphonies

 

Guarded by towering hills on the East

Flanked by the Arabian Sea on the West

With its easterly shore of stretching sandy swell

That lulls the restless waves to sleep

There is a land, my land of green vegetation

Nestled among palm trees and paddy fields

 

Oh! I am in love with this narrow strip of land

Of rugged hills and meandering rivers

Of placid backwaters and blue skies

Of gibbering monkeys and singing cuckoos

 

What rich diversity you graciously provide

A land dotted with temples, churches and mosques

Where Hindus, Christians and Muslims cohabit

Where diversity flows through her arteries

And unity beats through her throbbing heart

 

Here souls dance to the timeless rhythm of music

Of diverse genres, vocal and instrumental

Classical and folk, sung either as solo or in groups

With the accompaniment of veena, tanpura and violin

Their varying pitches beautifully synchronized!

 

In the serene dawns and dusky evenings

The atmosphere gets abuzz with the soft strains

Of ‘Sopana Sangeetham’, the ethnic music of Kerala,

It comes floating from inside the Hindu shrines

Flooding soul’s enchanted shores,

And opening the flood gates of piety

 

In healing murmurs and throbbing notes

As the symphony builds up its circuitous round

It descends down as a stream of blessing

Drenching devotees in its moistening sweetness

Like the drizzle of dew drops from heaven

Making hearts ride in the palanquin of joy!

 

 

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1.Sopana Sangeetham is a form of Indian Classical music, developed in the temples of Kerala. It is sung, sitting by the holy steps leading to the sanctum sanctorum of a shrine.

 

2.Veena- a stringed musical instrument, one of the oldest of Indian musical tradition, played sitting cross legged, capable of producing all oscillations of Carnatic music

 

3. Tanpura- a drone instrument of Indian origin used mainly in a concert of classical music, creating a melodic background, but not a melody.

 

VALSA GEORGE

VALSA GEORGE is a retired professor from Kerala. After her successful career as a teacher, she took to poetry. She writes on a wide spectrum of topics spanning Nature, Love, Human relations et al. She has authored over 1500 poems in varied poetic forms which she regularly posts in international poetry websites, reputed journals, and literary publications. She has four anthologies in her name - Beats, Drop of a Feather, Rainbow Hues, and Entwining Shadows the latter two available on Amazon.com. One of her poems ‘A space Odyssey’ has been included in the CBSE syllabus (Rain Tree Course Book by Orient Black Swan) for the 8^th grade students in India from the year 2018. Another poem ‘My Fractured Identity’ is prescribed for the undergraduate students (Voyagers) in Philippines