Kolkata: I Salute You Poem by Ratnakar Rout

Kolkata, my childhood fantasy
Thanks to my grandmother who chanted in my ears
Althrough my growing years
'Purire jati nahin, kalikatare rati nahin'.
There is no caste in Puri when Kolkata never sleeps.
Two exceptions in whole of India those days
Puri; the universality is alright
As it is the abode of Lord Jagannath
The Lord of millions of hearts, the Lord of the Universe.
But what was Kolkata then and what it is now
Yes, that was different and is different now too.
As I see through the lens of my quivering eyes
Youths, all across the States
The skilled, unskilled, educated, uneducated
Look at it with a ray of hope
To make a tryst with destiny to accomplish
Their longing, their long cherished dreams.
From the Hills to the Sundarbans
Mahanadi basins to Barak valley
Along the Sub-Himalayan terrains
To the coast of the Bay of Bengal
All to find an opportunity
Make the beeline to Kolkata.
It accommodates, never say no to any one
Disappoints none, embraces all
With usual love and care
Destitute to Divas, Pedestrians to High profiles
Poor to Affluent all alike, find a place in its heart.
Everyone toils hard, makes fortune
Climbs the ladders after ladders
To reach to the sky in the long run.
Hopes fructify, wishes bloom, aspirations satiate.
Kolkata has been keeping its soil fertile
To root the ignominious seeds.
From root grows the huge trunks
From the trunks shoot the branches
And the luxuriant foliage thereafter to shade many.
It gives un to each one's attainment
Over the years, it makes the flower blossom.
Thanks to Kolkata, a lot of thanks
I salute to your unblemished magnanimity
And benevolence that you endure
Through the centuries.