The Games

However you may cavil,
We got the game, the game;
However it may unravel,
We have no shame, no shame.

Only a hundred workers lost their lives,
Only a footbridge fell;
Only the beggars were put to the knives,
Our hands remain in the till.

The white man does not appreciate
How well we negotiate
Reality and bluster,
Third world and first world state.

Our metaphysics teaches us
To look with benign eye
On scoundrels and scalawags
Who leave us high and dry.

O India we assure you
Your image shall not be dented;
However the shit may hit the fan,
Our glories shall be scented.

Be not the anti-national wag,
Sing praise to national pride;
Whatever be the price to pay,
We shall bring in the bride.

And when we do the beggars will
Be back where we know them;
And they will so rejoice with us
When we show them

All the infrastructure we built
While they were in quarantine;
They will dance to national pride,
They will say it is fine

If they never have a belly full,
Or a shanty in their fate,
So long as the Queen acknowledges
How the games made India great.