To Delhi, a letter of hate

(Source- Apotheosis of War: Vasily Vereshchagin)

Delhi, I do not hate you

Because hate is polar to love and it is not that way.

I loathe you with no anger

I pity you I am indifferent to you now.

Delhi, I want you to leave me alone.

I have no more black blood in my veins

I punch at the concrete wall and my knuckles

are dry red as live ash.

The phosphorus eats the insides of my teeth

My bones are hollow as water pipes: they carry no sound

The cold fish has stopped slapping.

The virgin electricity it produces no sparks,

Not even a dull flash

You plead for stories to entertain you-

Delhi I have none left. Our paths will not cross.

I am not turning back to look at your yellow eyes.

I have heard your crying whistles, your muffled shrieks

The pills you gave me make me drowsy and reckless

I understand the void you are trying to fill

But you will have no help from me.

Listen to what the Raven croaks

Everywhere I see people utter too many words, they say nothing

Delhi I have dumped my humility+modesty

in the garbage fills somewhere in Gaziabad,

the garments of morality I bought at sale from Palika Bazaar

have worn out, are tattered and gone.

Delhi you live with yourself first before

you invite the meek philosopher to your geography.

The metro is punctual, stuffed to the brim

It carries cattle to Auschwitz.

Delhi you take care of your mother

Mine is well. She does not give a fuck.

© Chanchal K

(English Honours, 3rd Year)

White Walls

(Image: hospital by Gingastar18)

Blank walls in waiting rooms

And white lights turned down.

Tear and sweat soaked bedsheets

And oversized blue gowns.

The chill of floor tiles and

A dull pain in the chest.

Open doors, never shut;

That demand house arrest.

Words spoken out loud are

Weightless in the cold air.

A sanctuary to some,

What a hellish affair!

A place full of wonder

Or one of disaster?

© Daniel Challam  

(Economics Hons First Year)

 

Dr Strangehate or: How I dropped Hitler once and for all

(Artwork by Zach Johnsen)

Person: “…and what about your opinion on Hitler? What do you think of him?”

Me: “Well to start off with..”

Person: “I feel, keeping aside the fact that he brutally tortured and massacred millions of innocents; he was a very capable, influential and charismatic leader who saved Germany from the absolute mayhem it was in during that period… “

Pause

Me: “Oh. That’s great.”

Walks away

I’ve been at the receiving end of countless one-sided conversations like this, where the individuals voicing this opinion are people whose viewpoint I usually respect. Either it has recently become a fad to support and admire Hitler’s methods and leadership, or I have been turning a blind eye to a long standing opinion. Nevertheless, I need to voice my thoughts on this- so here goes nothing.

The bandwagon argument is this: Hitler’s effective oratory skills, good decision making and a strong will made him a great leader, which brought Germany out of the post-war ruin that it was in.

Due to the simple reason that leadership in general exists as a concept separated from good and evil, it becomes difficult to find faults in this line of reasoning, since it is factually correct that he did mobilise a large mass of people to follow him on an ideological path no matter how fundamentally fucked up it was.

The first logical timeline to use as a counterargument is Hitler’s initial rise to power in Germany after the First World War. History is an eye-witness of his influence on the people of the country, where he was successful in re-instigating a much needed hope for the future of the nation. This definitely is evidence of his above average allure, but was it the only reason for his popularity? I feel, and many historians agree, that it was majorly the dire post War conditions of Germany that fuelled his rise to power. When the general morale of the nation was depressed, it was easy for this particular prosaic showman to rise

Then as we entered the Second World War, Hitler’s style of leadership became apparent. Aptly named Führerprinzip (German for ‘leader principle’), Hitler became the ultimate authority on everything; every decision had to pass through him before it could be implemented. This in particular was a major military obstacle, as micro management of specific contingents made them less effective and caused more to rely solely on the Fuhrer’s war expertise. His goals and directions for the German troops had many a times proved to be extremely damaging (Operation Barbarossa being an example). Moreover, his distrust in subordinate generals for decision making was not helpful in their quest of winning the war. Add to this his high reliance on instinct rather than logic and will rather than pragmatism; things that are not good indicators of quality leadership.

In my point of view, leadership is not only characterized by good rhetoric or charisma. While these are important features, being inclusive of the majority’s opinion should be a top priority for any leader. While trusting nobody and taking decisions without second opinions may be quick and painless, it isn’t healthy for the group as a whole in the long scheme of things. No leader should work in isolation, no matter how absolute his/her power is, and Hitler did just that.

Hitler’s will and vision brought Germany only to a certain high point in its history, which soon ebbed away and turned into destruction and despair for the country. Even after ignoring his anti-Semitism, racism, and general genocidal tendencies, Hitler did not have a positive impact on any sort of entity in the long run.

Therefore, your argument is invalid.

© Arbab Ahmad

(English Hons 1st Year)

Revelation

(Source: Gustav Klimt- The Kiss)

Outside the world seems shrunken in rain

inside we’re waiting for each other’s consent.

Not that we don’t know in a minutes’ time

we will cross valleys after valleys

in anatomical arches.

You say- make six circles starting from my neck

spiral down to end at the thighs

and you will have six valleys crossed.

When I ask what are those

you gasp to end the rain, sigh and say

some valleys are rivulets of sweat

some have different kind of darkness in them

some are the places of bloodshed.

If the frogs have stopped raining

let’s go out and interpret the moon.

You silhouette your fingers against it

and speak- moon is like the silver unicorn blood

floating in the black ether.

I then realize you are another poet.

A sentinel satisfaction sifts on my skin

which, a while ago, you were wearing.

© Atul Mishra

(English Hons 3rd Year)