wraps her face
in a white sari because
her husband died,
wipes out the tears,
and decides
to lead a life-
happy or sad,
doesn’t matter.
A kid limps
across a street
because a doctor
injected a wrong medicine.
No one cursed the doctor
or took the matter
to higher authorities.
He just accepted life.
Young men ride
their bikes into a big
potholes.
Entire locality drops
dead because
Drinking water
was contaminated.
It was all there fault.
This is life in its
rawest sense-
death is routine,
suffering is private.
They adjust.
They normalize.
They move on.
They don’t
Demand better.
Why should they?
When endurance is
sold as national character
and jingoism is more
important than food
in the plate-
Compliant acceptance
becomes a prerequisite
for Citizenship.