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Poem by South African
poet
TRIBUTE TO PAPIYA
GHOSH (1953 - 2006)
BY
Gona Pragasen Kathan
Naicker
Our
paths have never crossed
Our lives separated
by the vastness
of the ocean of diaspora
you and I
born of the same mother
struggled for life
from the same womb
yet unknown to each
other
they killed you
plunged their knives
into your fragile
body
like Brutus hath done
to Caesar
for their evil knew
no bounds
their infernal deeds
blinded by their greed
your ghastly death
ridiculed
by fortified lies
and conspiracy
justice buried and
forsaken
with the sins of silence
you
Papiya Ghosh
a fragile pious soul
personifying the divine
Saraswathie
embodiment of sublime
virtues
gifted intellect
writer, teacher ,
historian
an intellectual light
to liberate our dogmatic
minds
born from the same
mother
that cradles in her
arms
the mighty Himalayas
in
life you bore no malice
you harboured no ill
will
in death you seek
not revenge
nor retribution
for that would blemish
your memory
and tarnish your life
long dedication
and compassion for
humanity
if
truth be sacrosanct
and justice be inviolable
for all of mother
India's children
then we must in her
name
uphold those sacred
tenets
without fear
so that her death
will become a beacon
that strengthens our
resolve
never to go down
begging on bended
knees
for the return of
righteousness.
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