Ordinary Man

The old man sits and plays till the sun sets

Sits and plays his flute at Red Fort, Lahori Gate,

Where Nehru on fifteenth August

nineteen forty seven, raised the Indian Flag 

And every subsequent year on this date

The old man plays till the sun doth set

The wind carries his music to Indian homes

Each note pouring forth from his soul

Celebrating freedom got after fierce struggles

Joining the Swadeshi movement, 

alongwith his village folks

Their sacrifices untold.

Pushed back, lathi charged, imprisoned with his mates, 

'Fast unto death' Motto upheld 

till the rulers relinquished their hold on ruling in a foreign land

Sat with his flute playing "Raghupati Raghav

Raja Ram" echoing inside the prison walls

As if, he was playing in a banquet hall.

That day he remembers in 1947 when he

was released along with his cell mates

Demeanor changed with taste of freedom

Heads held high, shoulders straight,

Marched out crying in unison "Jai Bharat" filling the air

O with so such flair!

He had a lot of dreams for his motherland

An ordinary man, tilling, sowing, harvesting crops on his farmland, wrested from him

by force, indentured labourer on his land

His dreams came to fruition that day

At stroke of midnight, turned owner again.

Unsung heroes like him are not mentioned

in books of history; the ordinary men, women

who contributed in their small way, towards

making India an Independent sovereign nation.

The old man in his ragged clothes sits and plays

at Lahori Gate, but no one notices his presence!