Let my Country Awake...Rabindranath Tagore

Where The Mind is Without Fear

WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Rabindranath Tagore

I remembered this poem today while reading about the current state of affairs in India. It is self-explanatory, apt and very touching.

Tagore - a Great man! Great Poet well ahead of his times! Although written during the Pre-Independence era it transcends boundaries of time and place and is suitable for Independent India too! He wants our country to become a place where many wonderful qualities exist: fearlessness, knowledge, unity, truth, useful work, reason, and progress. This is a journey not a destination and needs a lot of effort.

A small step by each one of us will take us there...