Once upon a time,

In the vast Indian hinterland,

There was an obscure village,

Caught in a time-warp,

With a farm shrouded in secrecy,

Under a never-ending night,

In which a mysterious pyre smoldered,

Giving rise to a cloud of lethargic smoke ,

And a murky, malevolent mist ,

As a broken body burnt to ashes,

Its spirit traumatized,

Everything enveloped in a pall of gloom……

A captive father,

A sobbing mother,

Desperate to unshackle their helplessness,

From the grip of backbreaking poverty,

And the timeless otherness of caste,

Which, till this day,

Basks in all its indefensible glory,

Leading to a million unanswered questions,

And a roar of deafening silence…….

Amen!