Gangveer Rathour

“THE GREAT HUMANITY

The great humanity is the deck-passenger on the ship
third class on the train
on foot on the causeway
the great humanity.

The great humanity goes to work at eight
marries at twenty
dies at forty
the great humanity.

Bread is enough for all except the great humanity
rice the same
sugar the same
cloth the same
books the same
are enough for all except the great humanity.

The great humanity has no shade on his soil
no lamp on his road
no glass on his window
but the great humanity has hope
you can't live without hope.”
― Nazim Hikmet

“Living is no laughing matter:
You must take it seriously.
So much so and to such a degree
that, for example, your hands tied
behind your back,
your back to the wall
or else in a laboratory
in your white coat and safety glasses,
you can die for people –
even for people whose faces you’ve
never seen,
even though you know living
is the most real, most beautiful
thing.
I mean, you must take living so
seriously
that even at seventy, for example, you’ll
plant olive trees –
and not for your children, either,
but because, although you fear death you
don’t believe it,
because living, I mean, weighs heavier.

- "On Living”
― Nazim Hikmet