Have you heard of Khudiram Bose ? (Uday Vikram)

Yesterday, I stumbled upon a poem that my elder son, Uday Vikram, has written and since some of my friends wanted to read it, I thought of uploading it on my blog. I was myself amazed at the sentiment that urged him to pen this poem on the birth anniversary of Khudiram ----what I wish and pray for is that such feelings live in this lad as he grows and the reality of the world does not kill this zeal and sentiment. 

Have you heard of Khudiram Bose
(Uday Vikram)

Have you heard of Khudiram Bose?

He sure has heard of you

Gave up his life with no remorse

To end your servitude

Lively as they say he was

A sharp and hungry mind

Troubled with the thought he was

Of enslavement of our kind

Orphaned at the age of six

But Bose had no regrets

Because the mother whose love he so relished

Was clearly under threat

Vande Matram, he screamed

A young boy of fifteen

Vande Matram, he screamed

Calling out to a nation asleep

A call that shook the tyrants

A millions laathis fell

But it took a lot more than violence

To have her sons quelled

Vande Matram in the town

The streets it did fill

Young boys scuffled around

Distributing hand bills

Have you heard of Khudiram Bose?

He sure has heard of you

Gave up his life with no remorse

To end your servitude

In  Medinipur, 103 years ago

Assembled a crowd of youths

Cast they maddened looks around

But the air was free of hoots

No hues, no shouts

The morning lay in peace

But in came, to drive them out,

Goons of the police

Blood stained the court of guns

Merciless, the laathis came

But up stepped a loyal son

Sushil Kumar was his name

He snatched the weapon from the brute

A boy not older than me

The coward trembled in his boots

While the crowd cheered in glee

He beat the scoundrel black and blue

Before his screams were heard

But our young hero was captured too

And produced before Kingsford

With each stroke of the whip he yelped

But not for help or for himself

Vande Matram, he cried

After each blow was dealt

And to everyone who shed a tear of pride

The fire so fierce had not yet died

For now each drop of teenage blood

Was building up a freedom flood

Have you heard of Khudiram Bose?

He sure has heard of you

Gave up his life with no remorse

To end your servitude

Kingsford feared his death was near

To Muzaffarpur he fled

But to the sons the aim was clear

Sushil must be avenged

Summer’s April 1908

The Jugantar leaders met

Chose they Bose and his mate

To reap the creeper’s death

Prafulla Chaki was chosen too

To repay our beloved mother

Whom they both were loyal to

And thus set out the brothers

The bombs and guns coincidental

To free the mother they both strove

Where only the eyes and heart proved essential

To find the path they roved

Bihar, the home of countless legends

Had given birth to yet another one

With teeming talks of Marx and Lenin

But his mind was ruled by none

Ninth grade, when he first rose

To the service of his mother

And then the anger just explodes

And conquers like no other

A sense of wrong and right

Was all that was required

To bring them all to fight

And leave generations inspired

Have you heard of Khudiram Bose?

He sure has heard of you

Gave up his life with no remorse

To end your servitude

The duo reached the town

With no shoes on their feet

After days of following Kingsford around

They planned an ambush on the street

Around 8.30 as planned,

The judge’s carriage was spotted

They bombed it and ran

They thought they had got it

But Alas! What a disaster!

The carriage contained not the judge

But the wife of a barrister

Who with her daughter was struck

They both ran in different directions

25 miles of running

Before Bose stopped at Veni Station

A sight quite stunning

Clothes unkempt, bare mud -caked feet

And at once police became suspicious

Grabbed him from behind, the cheats

But not against his wishes

Grinned he mysteriously

As the traitors bashed him around

The pistols flew out of his pocket

And Vande Matram out of his mouth

Have you heard of Khudiram Bose?

He sure has heard of you

Gave up his life with no remorse

To end your servitude

Meanwhile, Chaki received some help

A civil servant with regrets

Felt it his duty to treat him well

Gave him shelter, did his best

Mokamghat station

Chaki was discovered

And with no hesitation

He uttered a salute to the mother

And shot himself dead

The English stood in consternation

But they did cut off his head

And sent it home for confirmation

A pity he died among knaves

A great warrior and son

But if we can produce someone even half as brave

The battle is already won

Bose appeared before court

Death was to be his fate

And on the train of martyrdom he climbed aboard

11th August 1908

He smiled as they marched him to his death

What a grievous loss!

But while lived he fought with every breath

And so should you with yours

Have you heard of Khudiram Bose?

He sure has heard of you

Gave up his life with no remorse

To end your servitude.