By Badri RainaI do not know which of the chills
Is more mortal in import—
The one that descends from arctic ice,
Or from the hardened heart.
Or is it that the chill in the heart
Freezes Nature more
Than the season’s customary round
Of ages gone before.
For when all is said and done,
No heating warms as much
As the warmth of human hearts
That remain in tender touch.
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Badri Raina is a well-known commentator on politics, culture and society. His columns on the Znet have a global following. Raina taught English literature at the University of Delhi for over four decades and is the author of the much acclaimed Dickens and the Dialectic of Growth. He has several collections of poems and translations. His writings have appeared in nearly all major English dailies and journals in India.
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