Not Like This

The wise their moments spare will spend
In intellectual recreation.
The foolish do that time expend
In vice, or sleep,or recrimination.
– Narayana 

They rose to the occasion,hearing 
The clarion call to free the nation,
United in a singular purpose.
Not like this –
Chasing each other with knives and
Sticks, thirsty for brothers' blood.

They rushed to face the enemy – 
Hand in hand with all they had – 
Theist or atheist, man or woman.
Not like this – 
Robbing neighbors of life or honor 
For following their own bent.

They raised the green flag of victory
Giving their lives and limbs
Without craving prizes or profits.
Not like this – 
Lining theirpockets for their
Begums' chambers in far-off lands.

Those who prevailed at Plassey
Drank life to the lees, daring beyond 
The utmost bound of human thought.
Not like this – 
Seeking solace in ancient myths,
Shackled to inimical habits.

If we wish to honor the brave souls
Who gifted us liberty, we must build 
Forts of knowledge and creativity.
Not like this – 
Burning buses and shutting books,
Freezing the highways and streets.

Ronny Noor is an English professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, U.S.A. He is also the author of Snake Dance in Berlin, Slice of Heaven and Other Essays, and Where Heaven Spreads Wide & Other Stories.