It’s more than a mustache

it is a lot of self reliance

it is courage and conviction in who you are

it is in riding the horse to the wedding

it is in entering the temple walls

it is in demanding an equal life

it is not asking for too much

it is just my right to exist

to breathe the air you breathe

wear what you wear

and speak what you speak

it is a time that Gandhi dreamt of

it is a time of which he spoke

a time of which my grand mother dreamed

a time of which my father said will come

in these times of 3G and 4G and more

of increased connectivity

when you try to keep yourself above and away from my polluted self

I pity you man of the son of the great great grand father of ours

you who think yourself so different but are just the same as me

tomorrow I hope our children will talk together to school

tomorrow I hope our children will sit together at lunch

why your son may marry my daughter

and we shall be sons of a distant father of a different time

kauravas and pandavas of our mustached, turbaned times

oh, don’t yet fear us, not our rise, nor our aspirations

we are human too, just like you and does not see you as different from me

this is me, the new Indian, rising from the low, low-born, rising high,aiming high,walking the skies.

Come hold my hand, let’s rise together, lest you be left behind!