Mainstream Weekly

Two Poems for Iran | Sagari Chhabra

Sagari Chhabra — 2026-04-10T00:36:16Z

Minab
There is a shimmering lake
so vast that it reflects the blue sky;
inside it many secrets lie;
the wealth of our ancestors,
the ashes of our forebears,
and so many turtles, ducks and geese,
the lake is an isle of peace.
One looks, learns and grows
about the universe, the planet
and inter-connected life;
till one day, someone cast a stone;
the lake turned a deep blood red
there were one hundred and fifty-two ripples,
each ripple let out a human cry.
Each was a voice
of (…)

- 2026

Out of the City

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-10-25T04:58:11Z

Out of the City

- 2025

A Soldier

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-10-11T10:58:10Z

A young soldier walked,
trudging up a hill;
his heart filled with joy
at the sight of a light
emanating from his family

- 2025

Shireen | Sagari Chhabra

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-09-13T05:09:07Z

While I sat by the shores of the sea
a delicious feeling overcame me;
a shoal of fish began nibbling my toes
imagining they were worms undertow.
I sat still without a murmur
savouring the swell of waves,
the fish and the sea,
in harmony with all of god

- 2025

Seeking A Way | Sagari Chhabra

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-05-17T09:17:40Z

They walked into a meadow
blossoming with flowers,
asking tourists their religion;
separating them
they shot the newly-weds,
transmuting sindoor into blood
as the earth shrivelled
into a terrified flood,
of entrenched corpses.
The chinar trees bent and wept
as the pony man leapt
to save them, instead
he was shot in the head.
It

- 2025

Some Thoughts on International Women

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-03-08T04:30:04Z

I first met Krishna Thapar in Chandigarh. She was a diminutive woman dressed in a white salwar kameez and dupatta, with a face that was wrought with exquisite lines as she had witnessed the most excruciating pain. Her father Achint Ram Thapar had raised her cousin, Sukhdev, whose father Ram Lal Thapar died when he was only three. Sukhdev had been hanged by the British along with Bhagat Singh and Rajguru. However, little or nothing is known about the women who supported Sukhdev. Krishna ji (…)

- 2025

The struggle for true freedom | Sagari Chhabra

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-03-01T04:18:45Z

In my bedroom hangs a black and white photograph of Achint Ram, handcuffed with his feet in shackles. He was fighting for India

- 2025

Tribute to Tapan Bose | Sagari Chhabra

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-02-08T16:32:12Z

Tapan Bose (8 June 1946

- 2025

Dreaming the Republic | Sagari Chhabra

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-02-01T11:06:26Z

On 26 January 2025 - Republic Day - one

- 2025

A Christmas Carol For Our Times / Where Lies Hope | Sagari Chhabra

Sagari Chhabra — 2025-01-18T20:29:12Z

A Christmas Carol For Our Times
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
had a shiny nose,
and in the dark
every one swore it glowed!
All the children made fun of Rudolph
and his nose,
so the story goes;
never included him in their games,
which is an utter shame.
One day, Santa came
and asked Rudolph
if he would drive his very own sleigh.
and the children sang,
Rudolph the reindeer
it

- 2025