Problem on pedestal

The graves and statues along the riverside,

Are built for the departed leaders countrywide.

Mute, speechless statues here and there,

Are the main cause of caste problems everywhere.

Some eloquent, statesmen that here may rest

Are guilty of country’s bloodshed and unrest.

The doctrines of the leaders go with the wind

Much ado about their memory is found

At anniversaries of their birth and death

What is lacking in their emotion is depth.

Why not inscribe a statutory warning

On the pedestal of all statues standing?

“STATUES ARE INJURIOUS TO THE PEACE OF A NATION.”

(The writer’s email: meenakshi.pattabiraman44 @gmail.com)