First there were the Himalayas.
The god sitting astride Kailash
Sneezed a mighty sneeze and
The oceans surged from out
Of the rocks, rolling down to Deccan.
Then came the Aryans, the first
Of the human race, armed with
Horse and sense in equal measure.
The Dravidians  materialized thereafter
From the nooks and crevices, looked
Askance at fair-skinned masters,
And  slunk far down the Penansula.
With no horsesense, they made do
With  music, Tamil, and Telgu.
Soon the plains yielded trees and animals,
And  from sturdy branches fell
The  Vanvases. christrened by leftists
From sheer distorted spite as Adivvases,
Meaning  those who were native
Before the Himalayas and the Aryas.
Noticing the  phenomenon,
The oceans took heart and heaved
Up  other continents, full of sundry
Creatures, whose features had nothing
Sanaatan  about them. For long,
Upstart millennia, they remained
Merely protem, until  Narendranath
Stormed their ignorance, giving
Them a taste of civilization,
Which they refused for  generations,
Until they fell in a heap to missionary
Pravasis and vibrant Gujaratis.
Prodigal primitives prepare for
Ghar Vapsi, as Hindutva and Sanskrit
Baptise the globe out of  the profane
Back into that timeless writ which first
Was  seen to dance in Vedic trance.
Now under the puissant  aegis
Of the tenth avatar of Vishnu,
They learn how through sam, dham,
Dhand, bhed,  those only conquer
Who  promise much to many
But give to the few, and who
Travel far to make an impression
Among  a congenial  non-resident
Generation when things at home
Go from worse to bizarre. Or,
Give the nod to  speculations
That quell one set but fuel
Another  of murderous aspirations.
Called the niti of Chanakya, it decrees
That  facts be made monkeys,
And  words  oiled with grease.
Thus is history  unmade and made,
And  goodsense  brought to the knees.

Badri Raina

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.