“Channa jor garam!”
“Channa jor garam!”
I jolt back to the garden seat
Out of the blue hits my senses
The smell of the spicy channa
Stirring up old memories
The almost forgotten ones.
“Channa jor garam?”
As my eyes start to refocus.
I see before me a man
And I see lost glory,
In the broad shoulders
The nose broken in three places
The face scared scary
Bumps on wrong contours.
“Channa jor garam?”
I pull out money to buy his story
As he sits down talking to me
I realize he is not broken
As broken as his nose but
Broken he is in a corner of his heart.
A famous boxer he had been
Who in rings has seen many a rounds
Medals after medals
He had won for our mother India.
“Channa jor garam!”
The heat of the channa I feel
As it burns my tongue.
I also burn inside my heart
For the many like him.
Broken men of honour
Who made the country proud
Pride and glory of the country
Now just a forgotten story.
“Channa jor garam!”
“Channa jor garam!”
I hear his cry from this far
I wonder if his sad story
Has any more listeners today
But I am happy I stopped to listen
For with me I take away
A minor bit of his sorrow.
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