By Anuradha Singh
Life is a circle, and two ends of a circle meet,
Sands of time create ways for new feet.
Tens of thousands of soldiers, Led by a mighty king,
Reinstated belief of a righteous being.
Valour he had, and in no time the greatest of the great he became,
Paeans were sung, creating a niche in the heart of many; as he came.
Years went by, when a war was fought, gaudy a war was it,
Such was the pandemonium, with loud shrieks, human parts flailed bit by bit.
Acute grief, excruciating pain, and death reigned,
Blood mixed with dust, memories mixed with bodies maimed.
He threw away the axes, the swords, the batons and the war cry,
As he learned the pain of separation and loneliness and asked why?
Making way for chants of ‘Buddham Sharanam, Gachami’,
He dropped the metal and embraced the simple shroud.
Tears of love took over the gory spilled blood,
Understanding of faith and forgiveness did flood.
Spreading fast like the sweet smell of the incense sticks,
The message of love fetching people far and wide in weeks.
Came the saffron robes, fluttering in the serene winds of knowledge,
Then there was made, a seat of learning, a communication barrage.
Aiming to be a firmament of compassion, passion and wisdom
From beyond the mountains and across the seven seas as if gushing,
Bright eyes and eager feet came rushing.
To quench the thirst of many, swim in the depths of its sacredness;
Profound hymns reverberated to create life changing wellness.
To create the length and breadth of the country of dream,
Nurturing wisdom spilled the brim.
It was a golden age, flying high on the wings of success,
Beckoning each to come and chase.
The ball of fire looked big and beautiful
Assuring, sovereignty, stability a-plentiful.
In no moment came a harrowing wind, paling the warmth,
With screams and shrieks; engulfing them in cold grip.
The beautiful vistas of spreads of green, rippling ponds and blooming buds,
Were crushed under the pounding monstrous feet of immense studs.
Went down with blazing hungry flames,
The high halls, the long winding steps, the cool corridors, the hallowed names.
The years of sweat and hard toil, experiments, genesis, and thesis,
The lusty fire ate it all and asked for more, till there was no more.
Yes! There remained, only tears of many, and remnants of hard work,
Distress and disharmony.
Days turned into weeks and then years,
Birds made it their perch, weeds made way without fears
Cattle strolled and rested in its caved bay,
Unknown to the world, unassuming she lay.
A wise sculptor, with heart of gold, pride in the nation, came fore,
He woke up all, with the dream of yore.
He pinned hope in heart and courage in deed,
Taught us to dream, with eyes wide open and lead.
Description:
This is a story poem, a ballad written on the erstwhile Nalanda University. It is the first university of the world. When the European universities came up, Nalanda University was already destructed by Bakhtiar Khilji in the year 1193. In the year 2013 our honourable president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam sowed the seeds of resurrecting the lost university.