We, the exhausted people of India
In the corner of a newspaper next to a bleak photograph of our times
I spot a headline that salutes,
“ordinary citizens coming together in times of need.”
The article praises the singular endeavours of
Prabhjot who cooks 200 boxes of free lunch every day,
Riddhi who has gathered 6,50,000 rupees,
Gautham who helped someone find a precious vial of medicine in Bhopal,
Aishwarya who spends her work hours helping strangers find oxygen,
Jeetender who conducted the last rites for 300 grieving families,
Mukul and his best friend who’re helping 1000 people find plasma,
Shireen who made 40 phone calls to help her neighbour find a hospital bed,
Surya who has gathered sanitary napkins, food and clean water for 400 people,
Prakash whose auto doubles as an ambulance some days,
Amin who is there if you want to talk, all she will do is listen,
and Prema who fosters Bijli, Shadow, Fluff, Caesar, Brandy and a white kitten no one has named, left behind by people who have left the world.
I read the headline again, and think about how these individuals
bearing the burdens of administrations in brave, solitary efforts
to quell an impossible storm
are anything, but ordinary.
