Of all human emotions, I value pride the most. From time immemorial, pride has been shunned as a vice, a sin beyond pardon. Having rooted in such values, ingrained by education and by quintessential middle class upbringing, I held humility as a virtue par excellence. But when humility bestowed humiliation upon me, my pride came to my rescue. Pride not of the material kind, but of the spirit. A strength that the meekness of humility couldn’t provide, my pride instilled in me. When the blows of the world penetrated the feeble cover of modesty, Pride stood as a solid armor mitigating my woes. Who said, pride is an offense? Righteous pride is the essence of humanity. Swami Vivekananda, Subramanya Bharathi, Ayn Rand are some of those who extolled the glory of pride. Self-less pride brings meaning to chaos. Arrogance adds beauty to Greatness, and demands homage to the Doers.

The funny thing about pride is that it is dormant when left to itself, but when hurt, when battered, when it is smashed to smithereens, it resurrects in its entire splendor, resplendent in its re-birth.

The spine that slouches is made to extend to its full length, the head that is bent, raised to scale the firmament. The eyes that wander will see beyond the walls of time, envisioning a future that invigorates every strand of life.

                                 I, The Great.

A fortuitous union of cells

That is not my beginning

Hark! Chime the bells

I have come to do my doing!

A creature of chance

Is not how I came to be

Worth more than a second glance

Words fall short to describe me

I have a purpose, a task at hand

Plodding on every time I fail.

Etching my name on air, water and land

And blazing my own trail.

Many came and Many went

One amongst them is not me

Marching ahead, my head ne’er bent

Sweat and toil filling me with glee.

Tall and stately I will stand

Aristocracy in my stature

Dreams and plans so grand

Greatness imbibed in my nature

Death will not ebb my fame away

Phoenix-like I shall bear the heat

Graves never my place of stay

Ever rising from the embers of defeat

As I embellish everything I see

Jeers and mockery escape my ears

Men shall one day look upon me

For on my shoulders I will carry the New Years.

                                                             ---Sukanya the Lunatic Bard.