Skip to main content

Black vs White

This is a mail I got from a relative. Apparently, this poem was nominated by UN as the best poem of 2008:
When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black

And you white fellow

When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray

And you calling me colored?

Comments

Tushar Mangl said…
Wow
amazing!!!
I will not call it the best,
but ya very creative and innovative thoughts
Richa said…
the author need an applaud!!
muthu said…
the idea is simple and hard hitting.... who is the author of this piece??
Netika Lumb said…
@ AM,

In drawing attention to such a sensitive issue, I guess this is the best I've read.

@ Richa,
You bet he/she does..

@ Muthu,

Unfortunately I don't know.. But I shall soon find out.
Femin Susan said…
Wow, you have a great poetic heart! Keep up the great posts….. Good job!
BrownPhantom said…
This was new :).
Good find.
Si_Lee said…
i have read this one more than 2 years back .. i think it was written by an african kid 8 or 9 years old ... in some camp organised by UN
Netika Lumb said…
@ Sidharth,

An 8 year old kid??? You sure, right? I mean, it's strnage you know. Considering the depth of the poem and all that..
Kartz said…
Yeah, ve read this before. Riveting. Yet poignant. :(

Peace.
Si_Lee said…
yep .. it won an award ... notice hw simple the lines are and nt really correct
DJ Naik said…
smriti if u would have used grammer tht would be great
Netika Lumb said…
@ DJ Naik,

Who are you referring to?
very creative yar,me loved t:)

Also read

Toddy to Tequila Review: How Does Alcohol Tell the Story of India?

What if the history of India could be read through a glass? In Toddy to Tequila , Sandhya Mulchandani turns alcohol into an unexpected historical guide, moving from Vedic rituals and indigenous brews to Mughal courts, colonial trade and modern distilleries. Her subject is never simply drinking. It is faith, pleasure, prohibition, commerce, class, power and the people caught between them. Have you ever wondered what your drink says about the country you live in? Perhaps you are sitting somewhere with a drink in front of you. Nothing dramatic. No Mughal durbar. No colonial club with men in linen suits pretending the weather is not trying to kill them. You might be holding whisky. Or feni. Or beer. Perhaps a cocktail with a name that requires three attempts before you can pronounce it without embarrassing yourself. Perhaps it is toddy, poured from a humble container that has travelled a very long distance from the fashionable cocktail menus of modern India. Now ask yourself a sligh...

Does India need communal parties?

I think, it was Tan's post on this blog itself, Republic Day Event, where this question was raised. My answer. YES. we need communal parties even in Independent, Secular India. Now let me take you, back to events before 1947. When India was a colony of the British Empire. The congress party, in its attempt to gain momentum for the independence movement, heavily used Hinduism, an example of which is the famous Ganesh Utsav held in Mumbai every year. Who complains? No one. But at that time, due to various policies of the congress, Muslims started feeling alienated. Jinnah, in these times, got stubborn over the need of Pakistan and he did find a lot of supporters. Congress, up till late 1940's never got bothered by it. And why should we? Who complains? No one. But there were repercussions. The way people were butchered and slaughtered during that brief time when India got partitioned, was even worse than a civil war scenario. All in the name of religion. And there indeed was cr...

Did You Ever Love Me? Book Review: Can Rithvik singh turn heartbreak into a homecoming?

Did You Ever Love Me? by Rithvik Singh is a tender contemporary poetry collection about love, heartbreak, longing, self worth and learning to let go. Its greatest strength is emotional accessibility: Singh writes directly to readers who feel intensely and care deeply. The collection offers comfort without pretending heartbreak is simple, though its simplicity may occasionally feel familiar to seasoned poetry readers. Did you Ever Love Me? Have you ever loved someone so completely that, after they left, you were left wondering whether they had ever understood what they had been given? Not merely whether they loved you, but whether they ever noticed how much you loved them, how much patience you offered, how many small things you remembered, or how often you chose to stay when leaving might have been easier. There is a particular loneliness in that question because it rarely arrives at a dramatic moment. More often, it finds you while you are doing something completely ordinary. Yo...