The Games

However you may cavil,

We got the game, the game;

However it may unravel,

We have no shame, no shame.

Only a hundred workers lost their lives,

Only a footbridge fell;

Only the beggars were put to the knives,

Our hands remain in the till.

The white man does not appreciate

How well we negotiate

Reality and bluster,

Third world and first world state.

Our metaphysics teaches us

To look with benign eye

On scoundrels and scalawags

Who leave us high and dry.

O India we assure you

Your image shall not be dented;

However the shit may hit the fan,

Our glories shall be scented.

Be not the anti-national wag,

Sing praise to national pride;

Whatever be the price to pay,

We shall bring in the bride.

And when we do the beggars will

Be back where we know them;

And they will so rejoice with us

When we show them

All the infrastructure we built

While they were in quarantine;

They will dance to national pride,

They will say it is fine

If they never have a belly full,

Or a shanty in their fate,

So long as the Queen acknowledges

How the games made India great.

___________

Badri Raina

22^nd September, 2010