The blurred image on my phone (of my name on the NRC website)
Confirms I belong
To a state I have mostly only disliked
For its filth, cunning and cruelty
It has told me in ways
The slant of my eyes and the size of my body
And the way I roll my R, are all wrong
So are the smells that I carry in my bag back from home
For home is a place far from that country
That tells me I smile too readily
And touch people too much when
I extend my arms for a hug.
I live desolate
In that country that make fun of my pain
I deserve to be killed they tell me
AFSPA is needed it argues
I am unruly and wild.
For times I roamed
From that country to another
Craving for home and carrying its pain
Singed with refusal more than once
Now I belong, it is confirmed
My mother’s forefathers (her foremothers don’t matter) came from China
Too long ago for anyone to know
They will not deport me if a war breaks down
With China, like they did in Makum
The blurred image confirms I belong.
My father, a dark skin Dravidian
His forefathers (his foremothers don’t matter) too poor to be traced back anywhere
The blurred image confirms I belong here
Will not take away my land?
To build a factory and a dam
Will I not be shot at when I protest?
Do the field and forests belong to me?
Will I live free of hunger and fear?
F**k no! I say
I do not belong
Not to that country, do I?
