Building Peace Project 2014: Introducing the Participants

With a poem written by our super talented volunteer, Ashay Abbhi, we'd like to introduce our participants to you!

To read the poem in Hindi, head to this link: http://www.redelephantfoundation.org/2014/03/blog-post.html

Longing of the broken land

Through the narrow lanes of my India,
the doors to your Pakistan I found..
your world whose land resembles me,
my world with skies like you abound..

In the echoes of your prayers,
my appeals were answered..
In the holy verses of your Qur’an,
Traces of my God resound..

A cool breeze from your side,
knocked on the door of my abode..
the tidings of your yard are told,
by the fallen leaves in my compound..

Your world brightened every night,
by the light of my Diwali..
in the taste of sweets on your Eid,
was your mother's love around..

My fire blanketed in its warmth,
your coals on frigid nights..
the threads of your tattered clothes dissolved,
sweeping sweat off my forehead's mound..

My house is still there on that road,
where your house used to be..
it's still the same backyard, same world,
only now on different sides of the ground..

Your doorway was my best friend,
my room was your confidante..
It's been so long since they saw each other,
in feverish depression my room has drowned..

These lanes were divided by who,
who built this wall of borders..
often when I think about your eyes,
I see a solitary longing tear so profound..

The ink in my pen is but yours,
yours is the melody in my ballad..
now your words are aloof from me,
now you yearn desperately for my sound..

The silent sounds in these bylanes,
whisper to the images lost in the dark..
in every mirror of your India,
ruminates my Pakistan unbound.