Firstly, I wish my all readers, a very Happy Eid. Secondly, I am missing ‘H’ for ‘Hyderabad’ and ‘H’ for ‘Haleem’. I can recall small roadside shops with colourful lights around the entrance, serving ‘Haleem’. A bite of Haleem can make you feel the real essence of Hyderabad around Eid.
Well, I love India as we see all the festivals here with everyone taking complete participation in making it more enjoyable and memorable. I just called my friends in Hyderabad to wish them ‘Happy Eid’ and I thought of the poem ‘A Nation’s Strength’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
What makes a nation’s pillars high
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.
And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.
Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly...
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.
And its foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.
Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.
And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.
Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long.
Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly...
They build a nation’s pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.
The real strength of India lies in three words - ‘Unity in Diversity’. I pray and wish that this Eid brings more love and harmony in India.
Good Night and Happy Eid!
