The legend who inspired me to hold the pen and make it sing.  For me…the best way to give a tribute to him was to write a poem.  After all, it is only fitting to write a poem about a great poet and an equally great man!

It has been a week since I have been constantly thinking of him. These three days have especially been hard for me as somehow I couldn’t shake the thought of — “what if we lose him?!”

That it would finally be the end of an era after Mr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who died in 2015. (Former President of India) 

And then today I read about his passing. I was taken by absolute shock because I wasn’t even aware that he had been admitted to the hospital and yet I couldn’t shake off the thought of him no matter how much I ignored and was somehow worried. It felt like I lost a grandfather, and it feels like a personal loss.

I, like many others, feel heartbroken & grief.

Will we ever have another like him!
Maybe our past generation didn’t deserve him, be we did!!
Or maybe he is way ahead of even our times.

Hopefully gone into the journey where he is born in a world that would be truly worthy of such souls like Vajpayee Ji & Kalam Sir.

Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Former Prime Minister of India) is no ordinary man. I talk of him in the present tense because in my heart and the hearts of many he will forever be alive. He imprinted our hearts even when we were little children knowing nothing of the big bad world. He moved us in such a way, we somehow in our innocent mind knew that this is what a true legend, a great being ought to be.

He taught us that we are one above and beyond any political or national affiliation. He taught us to accept our defects and to learn from them and evolve.

It won’t be a surprise if I tell you that he is who inspired me into becoming a poet. I was 11  when I first heard his poem that came out in 2002: Kya Khoya Kya Paya (What is lost, What is Found)
And being the ever Indigo child of Empathy it touched my soul in a way I started writing from then on.

“क्या खोया, क्या पाया जग में/ मिलते और बिछुड़ते मग में/मुझे किसी से नहीं शिकायत/ यद्यपि छला गया पग-पग में।”

When even the young people of India shed tears of loss upon the departure of one of the greatest we have ever had, it is proof enough that…Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji is what we need to look up to, to change what we today know as politics.

A change not with hatred. A change not with anger. But a change with that of self-acceptance, pride, and love. A love for not only the motherland but that of the humanity as a whole.

That is what the generation of today, the real India of today needs. We are not the future of this world, we are the present. And only the present can shape the future that our children will live in.

So let him be your Guide of what ought to be the ideal politics.
Let him feed you the passion, compassion, and inspiration.
Let him feed you his poetry of the power of Love, Heartbreaks & Patriotism.
Let him feed you the utter sadness of being lonely, and let that make you a torchbearer of joy so that no one around you has to experience being so alone.
And don’t let his legacy fail.
We owe this to him. We owe this to our nation.

The legend who made peace with Pakistan & also became the one to make India a Nuclear power at the same time, somehow along the way taught us that :

Just because an Elephant learns to ignore the Dog, doesn’t make the elephant any less powerful. It, instead, makes it MAJESTIC.

‘Atal Raho, Atal Bano | अटल रहो, अटल बनो’

अटल रहो, अटल बनो |

जहाँ हो समय शान्ती का |
झुको वहाँ तुम प्रेम से ||
परंतु नत्मश्तक कभी न हो |
वृक्ष की तरह अटल रहो ||
अटल बनो |

जहाँ हो समय स्वभिमान का |
उत्तर दो वहाँ तुम कर्कशता से ||
परंतु अभिमान को तुम त्याग दो |
झुको नहीं अटल रहो ||
अटल बनो |

वह गज बनो जो भषित स्वान से लडे नहीं |
ना दे उसे ध्यान वोह्, चलता रहे ||
तुम भी चलो, चलते रहो |
चलते रहो आरोह से ||
वह गज बनो, द्युतिमत् रहो |
अटल बनो ||

अटल रहो, अटल बनो |

“Atal raho, Atal bano. (Stay resolute, Be resolute)

Jaha ho samay shaanti ka (When there is a need of peace)
Jhuko waha tum prem se (Then you bend with love)
Parantu natmashtak kabhi na ho (However, never kneel down)
vriksha ki tarah atal raho (Stay unwavered like a tree)
Atal bano (Be resolute)

Jaha ho samay swabhimaan ka (When there is a need of self-respect)
Uttar do waha tum karkashata se (Answer it with persistence)
Parantu abhimaan ko tum tyaag do (However, discard your ego)
Jhuko nahi atal raho (Don’t bend, stay resolute)
Atal bano. (Be resolute)

Woh gaj bano jo bhasit swaan se lade nahi (Be the elephant that doesn’t fight the barking dog)
Na de use dhyaan woh, chalta rahe (Nor gives any attention, and keeps walking instead)
Tum bhi chalo, chalte raho (You too keep walking)
Chalte raho aaroh se, (Keep walking further, and move higher)
Woh gaj bano, dyutimat raho. (be that elephant, stay majestic)
Atal bano.  (Be resolute)

Atal raho, Atal bano.” (Stay resolute, Be resolute)

To be born & to exist in a time where both A. P. J. Abdul Kalam AND Atal Bihari Vajpayee existed…has been a true honor. On behalf of India, Thank You, Sir!