National

Poem On Elections' Tryst With Power And Privilege

Durga P𝓰rasad Panda's poem triggers a sharp incision into an individual's place in the matrix of power politics.

The India Today Group
Supporters take part in a support rally for Indian Minister for Science and Technol﷽ogy and Ocean Development Kapil Sabil before he leaves to file his election nomination papers in New Delhi on April 16, 2009. Photo: The India Today Group
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1. Tongue: A Soliloquy 

 Some day, after so 

 Many years later, 

I will surely come  

Carrying my broken self 

On my back, 

Walking across this road 

Once washed with blood 

To look for my tongue 

Lost in the slippery corridor 

Of power and privilege. 

An election meeting in New Delhi, India, 1957 Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images
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Durga Prasad Panda is an accomplished bilingual poet and critic whose works have appeared in prestigious journals and magazines across the country and abroad