Destroying the natural home of those wild,

These social creatures build artificial homes—

For ‘wilds with congested borders, and say without shyness;

Helping the voiceless— opens the door— to Heaven.

Rajendra Ojha, an eminent poet from Kathmandu, Nepal, the Himalayan country, shares his poem

Rajendra Ojha (Nayan) is a Nepalese poet, philosopher, social researcher, social worker, and EU-certified trainer. Based in Kathmandu, he also served as a citizen diplomat for three months under the ‘Ministry of Population and Environment’ in 2018 in Switzerland for the diplomatic program of the Minamata Convention, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland. Poems and philosophical writings of Rajendra Ojha have been published in various national as well as international literary journals from Nepal, the U.S.A., India, China, Russia, Spain, Myanmar, and Pakistan in both Nepalese and English. He has also published two anthologies, ‘Through the World’ (a collection of experimental poems) and ‘Words of Tiger’ (a collection of philosophical and psychological poems), in 2011 and 2019, respectively. He has been honored by two major prestigious awards named ‘Asia’s Outstanding Internship Solution Provider Award 2020/21’ and ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Television Award 2023’ respectively for his work as a ‘Social Researcher’ as well as a ‘Social Worker’ (activities related to social responsibility), respectively, in 2021 and 2023.

The Paradoxical Civilization

Destroying the natural home of those wild,

These social creatures build artificial homes—

For ‘wilds with congested borders, and say without shyness;

Helping the voiceless— opens the door— to Heaven.

No matter if the self-proclaimed social animals

Build the heavenly house for the wilds,

In what they always seek happiness is:

Diving into the lap of natural wildness that we perceive as unsocialized.

Every culture is dogmatic when it comes to—

‘Helping Voiceless Wilds and the Tames’.

Controlled by their inner fear and future, and being voiceless,

Even the fearless king of the Jungle forcefully converts to Sheep.

But beasts are not so voiceless as compared to other Wilds and Tames,

They can at least stand to their defense more than the Lamb.

Yet controlled by the fear of science,

Their beastly power paralyzes all at once.

Possessing a deeply endorsed generosity within them,

Some of these beasts have a human body and feelings.

But their unique nature that the society failed to understand,

Made their dignity below all the— ‘Wilds’.

Fear is the mother of every kind of lies we know,

For what we perceive as the discipline of somebody;

Maybe the lovely lie filled with rainbows that—

Every ‘soft dictator’ longs to see.

Many times, voicelessness is taken as a synonym for a disciplined nature,

So that those who consider it a discipline,

May convert everyone into lambs for future use.

And then, the natural interaction of both the—

‘Wilds’ and the— ‘Lambs’ are forcibly shaped with it.

And now, even modern civilizations make the same mistakes,

That was made numerous times in the past.

Analyzing the world by centering ourselves,

We forget the benevolent acts of other voiceless animals;

To convert ‘Wild Humans’ into conquerors of the timeless eras.

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Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"