We climbed down from the trees,
We ventured out of our caves.
We clawed our way out of the abyss of ignorance,
We waded out of the morass of stupidity.
With passion and compassion in our hearts,
With science and humanism as guides.
We have paid for it dearly,
With the heads of a Plato and a Bruno,
We have paid for it dearly,
With the freedom of Galileo, Rushdie, Badawi…
We have paid for it dearly,
With the blood of a Gandhi and a King and countless others.
In the cause of a freedom from indignity,
Freedom from vengeance and barbarism.
Let not religions dictate what is right,
Our humanity is enough to put us straight.
Let us not lose the hard won battles
Let us not let medievalism hurl us back to where we started.
Let us soar up so that one day We can say,
“we are humans”, justifiably proud.
*Triggered by some recent trends and events. The last one being the lynching in Nagaland
