World War II, the final conflict (?) had its start in thirty-nine
With my thirteenth birthday very close at hand.
I remember the announcement hanging somber in the air
As the blackout darkened our expectant land.

We'd been warned that Adolph Hitler was the enemy of right;
That his aim was subjugation of us all,
So we mobilized our army, all our youth prepared to fight,
Young and old would bravely answer to the call.

We watched with rapt excitement as the young men left their homes,
As they donned the blue and khaki battledress,
Then they went into the conflict that they knew we had to win,
And their only aim was victory; No less!

They must leave behind the older folks, and younger ones like me,
Never dreaming that we, too, would join the fray,
For before the war was very old the bombs were raining down,
And the glare of burning streets turned night to day.

But we soon became accustomed to the whistle of the bombs,
And the pounding of an anti-aircraft gun,
For so many nights at sunset we would hear the sirens wail,
Telling us another air-raid had begun.

As the years went by we youngsters who'd been far too young to fight
Were older now and ready to enlist,
And at seventeen we registered to serve our war-torn land,
To replenish once again, the War Mill's grist.

I had volunteered for "Air Crew" and I donned the Air Force Blue,
But by now, with war in Europe almost won,
The 'Powers That Be' decided that in India I would serve
And my dreams of Air Crew Training now were done.

So they put me on an airplane and they flew me to Bombay,
And from there to Kolar Gold Fields near Madras,
Then to Cawnpore and New Delhi and to Rawalpindi too,
And I saw a new-born nation come to pass.

Yes! I saw the birth of Pakistan, the dawn of nationhood,
Midst the racial riots and sore religious strife,
I experienced living history and the changing of the maps,
And those memories stayed vivid all my life.

But it seems that nothing changes in the vagaries of men;
This world of ours is still beset with grief.
And although we fought the war that should have ended all the wars,
Inhumanity to man has no relief!

Let us pray for generations of the teens yet to be born;
Let us hope they have a future free from strife.
May they live in peace, with tolerance for other creeds than theirs;
May each grant each the dignity of life!

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