The Globalized Poor Poem by Debasis Chatterjee

On a wintry Kolkata morning
A well dressed gentleman was standing
At a traffic signal, I knew not what for
Till he ambled in front of the window of my cab
And started begging; oh no! , requesting
A little help to buy a packet of insulin!

Lest I thought he was another beggar hovering,
He proffered his Card, the urgency notifying.
I gave him money for buying the packing,
And, he, senior to me and more dignified,
To my embarrassed shock, saluted
Me for showing him the clemency,
Which, he said, was these days. an unknown decency.

This left me in a train of thought…
What about us, the working class,
Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth?
Ever fearful of retrenchment, afraid of present,
Scared of future, terrified of resentment
Of above and below;
Worried about family, unsure of future
Of children, uncertain of safety and relief,
Confused about everyday headlines on battles, torture;
Hooligans looting, politicians & businesses reaping,
Genocides horrifying, killing senseless,
Racists, haters, rightists, leftists attacking defenseless,
Governance missing, law & order vanishing….

Where are we, common men in billions,
Trying to make ends meet each day for little rations?
Where are we, men and women, children starving
Every day, with our old and infirm, heading?

With their own power and wealth sharing,
Does the Power That Be Wherever have any inkling,
How each moment the world over, we are agonizing,
Toiling, suffering, sickening and dying?


Are we about to lose to the torrential technologies trampling,
AI, space wars, power mongers threatening,
Rising trends of hegemony abound,
The known and unknown cataclysms around?
Shall we be like pigs to man or men to pigs, nobody
Will know which is what, as Orwell did warning sound?

Are we one by one going to be that old, dignified human being,
Who on a wintry morning requested for a dose of insulin;
So that he lives for another day…another year….
Inside a benighted and darkened cell forever?

…Or shall we be yearning and praying for divinity,
For One Great Miracle, for One Flash of His Eternity,
Turning our lives from nugatory to efficacy?