Delhi

Oh! Delhi,

You are the mother of cities

In your adolescence

You were Indraprastha

In the youth

You became Shajahanabad

And later you became Delhi

You are the Panchali

Who, for decades,

Is being stripped

By the political lords

You live on the banks of Yamuna

Still, no flutist

Is coming to your rescue

You are the Sita

Who braves the fire

To prove your innocence

Rama sends you

To the concrete jungle

Again and again

Not an inch of earth

Is available here

For you to split

And perish yourself

Oh! Delhi,

Ghalib wanders

In your alleys

Singing his Ghazals

Even today

Now, the river Yamuna

Flows Through your chest

Like a flimsy wound

Where are your children?

Don’t they have a place

Even in this concrete jungle?

By Ismail Meladi