Gurpreet Singh’s poem, “I Am a Lost Indian”, addresses the hypocrisy of India’s leaders, who embrace ideas rejected by framers of the constitution yet still claim to reflect their ideals. The poem also speaks to the grief that this engenders among those who no longer recognize the country that they once called home.
I Am a Lost Indian
by Gurpreet Singh
I am a lost Indian.
Someone who cherished his surroundings so much,
Full of diversity,
Of colours, spices, foods, faiths, fabrics, languages, and ideas of India itself.
It was never this way before bunch of self-proclaimed gatekeepers took over the reigns of my birthplace,
Claiming to be the true custodians of the land.
Without any shame,
They created a fiction of being heroes of the freedom struggle they had never joined.
Allergic to any thought of plurality,
They question today my patriotism,
Leaving me wondering,
Where my home has gone
Gurpreet Singh is a B.C. author and co-founder of Radical Desi. Follow him on Bluesky @gurpreetradical.bsky.social. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia, Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social, and Instagram @PancouverMedia.
