An Eye for An Eye

Dear Mr. Editor, sir,
From you I beg to differ.
At my hand many suffered humiliation
And some left their jobs in indignation
The rest are bond slaves all right
But one of them is a swine downright
With no sense of self-respect
For everybody did expect
After what had happened
He would go back to his friend
But that son of a bitch
Has burnt his bridge.
He was a rabid Marxist
Almost overnight
A damned turncoat
He has turned a nationalist
And like a neophyte
He is the most fanatic follower of the faith.
His friend a few days ago
Is now his greatest foe
And always on some plea
He spreads his friend’s calumny.
As you advise I began
By thinking him a gentleman
And treated him as such
But in my great circus
He is not even an ass
Nor an acrobat of renown
He is a bluffing clown.
All through his illustrious career
In acrobatic antics he has been a past master
To him conscience is convenience
And convenience conscience.
His burning passion
Is yet one more promotion.
For the paradise of a sty
He is even ready to die.
When none is available
Or others have some scruple
To do for me something nasty
Indifferent to morality
Or even to legality
In utter obsequity
He will do it as his duty
Without any protest
Such is his zest.
This caricature of a creature
This sleek operator
Will always volunteer
To serve as my scavenger
Ousting in a calculated manner
Those who have some sense of honour.
It is he who has formed my habit
Him and his tribe to treat
The way I treated him that day.
But as you say
It was not proper
But dear Mr. Editor,
That swiniest of the swine-herd
Has himself set the standard.
That shameless creature
Finds no pleasure
Unless he is kicked
Or by him I allow my feet to be licked.

So that is the actual situation
And according to my estimation
He is no more than a swine
And to satisfy his governing itch
My feet he will always kiss.
He will fall sick
If at regular intervals I don’t kick
On what itching part of his anatomy
Better not ask me
For continually
He has kept it on offer
In a slatternly posture
Even at the risk of the latest disease
You are welcome to see if you please.

An eye for an eye? Please don’t talk rubbish.
Before you reform others
Please reform your brothers
Specially that degenerate swine
Who boasts he has reformed the land clean.  

---------------------

This poem was written when an incident took place in which Mr. Rajiv Gandhi as prime minister in a largely attended meeting shabbily treated two bureaucrats of the rank of Secretary to the govt. of India. It was widely publicized in the media at the time of its occurrence. The editorial suggested how bureaucrats should react in such situations. One of those bureaucrats belonged to the West Bengal cadre and is famous for his 'commitment' to the powers-that-be, irrespective of the political color. When in communist-ruled West Bengal he was a rabid Marxist and was the author of the highly controversial land reform measure known as 'Operation Barga', which, according to legal experts, was not strictly legal. Land reform in this case was only an excuse. What it really intended was the firm establishment of the Marxists in the villages In this it was eminently successful, because according to this 'Operation barga' it was the party and not any law or legal procedure which actually decided who was a bargadar. The party usually foisted a bargadar on the land of anybody not toeing its line. The rule of law was substituted by the rule of the party. The poison tree planted more than two decades ago has now borne fruits. In the recently held panchayat elections a very large percentage of seats have been won by the communists 'uncontested'. The rule of law has vanished. There is a reign of terror. Many candidates of other parties were forced to withdraw. Hundreds have lost their lives. The progrom is always there, during elections it was intensified. The picture is the same everywhere in India today. We usually blame the politicians for this state of affairs, but the bureaucrats are equally responsible. In fact things have come to such a pass that it is difficult, if not impossible, to find an officer without some kind of political affiliation.

The above notes were appended to the poem at the time of its publication. This particular officer, now retired, has joined the party of Mamata Banerji. Politicians know very well who are most useful to them.