The Sculpture I Create

The Sculpture I Create
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I think that I am someone old,
And I do have a name
I am proud of my sculpture
That brings me fame

Each passing day I modify
My sculpture again and again
You might think I am crazy
But I assure you I am sane

It seems like ages,
But what I want is perfection
Heavens above have faith in me,
I’ve to live up to expectation

I trust my tools
And have faith in my experience
Above all I have my skill
All these give me confidence

But today I have to do something new
There are sculptors just like me
Our aim is to better our sculptures
By copying from each other, what we see

After all, we all want our sculptures
To be beautiful and ornate
But what do we do, if the base is weak
It has to crumble says the judge, Mr. Fate

Can I trust my rationality?
Will I copy anything nice I see?
Or wait for others to copy my style
In which a strong base is a must be

More questions start popping up now,
As I steal a look sculptures around,
I gloat of trusting myself and all I have
But still I quickly copy something new I found

I know I have the responsibility
To make our sculptures the best
Should I show them by taking a lead
Or just follow the popular like all the rest

I am the people of this country
And I can only make my culture
I have always stood my ground,
Though there have been many a vulture

I trust our tradition, that’s my experience
I have tools of various forms,
To all the other people they are
better known as my social norms

But as we move towards a global village
I can’t seal myself and pride in my work
I have to be geared to meet the future,
The opportunity, I know, is enough perk

I have succeeded in shielding my work in the past
As always time has changed, I can see…
But why do I question my skill now
Perhaps, it’s a sense of self hypocrisy

I have prided in my “secular” credentials
In fact, it is there in my constitution
But when my hindu sister loves a christian guy
I just call that unwanted rebellion

Still I say caste system is now over,
Well, as long as saying works, its okay
I don’t even give or take dowry any more
Though some “small giftings” are here to stay

When I’m a rustic and I vote for my clan fellow
I am ridiculed by them for my stagnation
Though they, whom education has made elite
Vote the same, but just provide elegant justification

It has become busy these days
At my work for days on end,
If I stand back and think for a while,
Acceptance is the essential to make things bend

Things seem crazy right now but
Solutions would come to us I know,
The best sculpture is waiting to be made
It is just that some thoughts need to flow

And maybe I am just old because
I have stopped thinking my usual way
All other sculptors would copy my art,
I hope I’ll pass the test of time that day

~ Som

(Written sometime in November-December 2004, IIMA)