When they scrub your fingers
with anti bacterial, alcoholic
hand sanitizer
and press your fingers
on a lit up screen from below,
when you - like that machine -
look and flash a smile at the foreign camera
and walk away with an air
of feigned confidence
dithering inside about the uncertainty
when you know inside that THAT name
on your visa
that stamp from YOUR embassy
that signature from YOU in confirmation
that need to be believed
to be trusted
certified
marked
responded to -
- that's when you know why
Your nation exists
beyond shadow lines
beyond denial.
That's when you know how
you exist as an Indian
over and above anything and any politics.
