Visa
As we, the children of Ambedkar
try and understand our identity
we realize that we are
long rivers of revolution
flowing since
the stillness of centuries,
birds flying out of a tunnel
emerging from
hidden histories,
temporary tourists
wandering through
a bizarre land.
We are because he was,
citizens of his words
and of nowhere else
waiting in this violent country,
waiting for a visa.
Protest
For you, a protest
is just another place to go to
like you would to the cinema
or a fancy restaurant,
a state of mind
not different from
heartbreak, loneliness
or drugged euphoria,
an opportunity
to emulate your
“non-violent” heroes.
It is for you
yet another event
on your calendar
among office meetings
and wild parties,
an easy means
to earn praise
at the expense
of our hard earned space,
merely a prompt
to write poems on
using stolen words
and recite at exclusive clubs
built on stolen land.
It is just another
aspect of you
to curate and add,
(with nothing to lose)
to your effusive personality.
For us, a protest
is a fight to breathe,
to speak and to exist.
It is at a lot of times,
a fight against
the likes of you.
Chetan Ashish is a BTech graduate and an IT employee who is actually a wannabe arts student. Poetry is his window to that world, supported by a passion for consuming and discussing cinema, literature and music (mainly through an anti-caste and Marxist lens). It is also a means for him to understand his place in the world better, both personally and politically. When he’s not doing any of those things, one can find him pacing on the terrace while listening to a podcast and observing the mood of the evening sky. Or one can find him sitting by the window in his room sipping coffee, in the company of his best friend and pet shih-tzu Albus. Please note that a pre- and a post-COVID bio could potentially be very different.