When soldiers go to battle,

They have guns in hand.

They can see the enemy,

They can kill, defend.

 

But, the nurses and the doctors

Who tend infected cases

Have not a clue when

The virus may hit their faces.

 

When soldiers die fighting,

Their loved ones their  losses rue;

But an infected Corona warrior

Can kill his family too.

 

Yet, driven by their oath to life,

They battle in a cause

That disallows all cautions,

And has no room for pause.

 

So, we who are in lockdown safe

Salute these women and men

Who take on an unseen marauder

That is an apparition.

 

Dangers that are beyond our ken

Often make us beasts.

Corona warriors are deserving

Of the holiest of feasts.


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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.

1 Comment

  1. YES.
    Thank you for calling our attention to this parallel.
    And our government’s policies are making their risk even more dangerous.

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