Poems on Gandhi

The Recipe

By T. P. Kailasam

Into a bare handful of bones and skin
Pour just an ounce or so of flesh and blood;
Put in a heart loveful as Sea in flood;
Likewise a mind sea-deep and free from sin,
Fix on two jumboo ears,... two goo-goo eyes
Paint on a smile of babe at mother's breast,
Inclose a soul that caps Himavat's crest;
And speaks with tongue which honey's sweet defies;
The "stuffing"? Goat's milk, soya-beans and dates,
Now, cover to brim with suffering human's years;
And bake this dish in gaol for one score years
Take out and garnish it with pariah mates,
Wrap up in rag, prop up with lithe bamboo
And serve; The world Redeemer; Our Bapu.

(From the book "Light of India" by M. S. Deshpande)