Atal Behari Vajpayee's Poem

Here is the translation of a poem (originally in Hindi) by the great Atal Behari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India as well as a person liked by people across all political parties :

Let's light the lamp again

It's dark at stark noon,

The sun defeated by shadow,

Let's bring out the inner essence,

Let's flame the blown wick,

Let's light the lamp again.

We have taken path as goal,

The goal has disappeared from before eyes,

In fascination for the present,

Let's not forget about tomorrow to come,

Let's light the lamp again.

Sacrifice is incomplete, so is Yajna,

Surrounded by obstacles of our own,

To firm up the final victory

The new Dadhichi melts his bones,

Let's light the lamp again.

--English rendering by A.K. Gandhi