Of Tribes And Turbulence Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

Democracy
Is the most natural form
Of government,
Evolved naturally.

In the pre-historical
Nomadic societies
Democracy
Emerged naturally
By simple extension of
Division of labour.
Everyone had a say
Everyone was heard
Everyone fulfilled his or her role
Everyone had his or her needs met.

Democracy demanded
from everybody
utmost vigilance
and absolute responsibility
lest it failed.

Tribes fought one another
For land and cattle
One who fought well
As hero was hailed.

When vigilance failed
Hero-worship surfaced
Giving way to autocracy.
A monarch emerged.

May be a war-lord, a king.

Larger societies,
Larger settlements
Larger kingdoms
Lesser democracy.

No one had a say
No one was heard
King decided what was good
For 'his' people.

And who took what!

Democracy returned, naturally
albeit with no democracy
Those who ascend to power
In the name of the people
Forget them the moment
they complete the oath;
Forget even the oath
they've just taken.

But
Times have changed.
Now everyone has a say
Everyone is heard
Even when the Fourth Estate
is selectively blind
and tactically deaf.
The uncounted many
have regained their voice
and are heard and listened to
In the social media.