Poet : Rugmani Prabhakar
Dedicated to Soldiers of War Everywhere
Where do you carry
Your trail of pain?
Oh, Soldier-Poet
Oh, Flyer of machines
Of peace, of destruction
Do you carry your pain
By the side of your heart
Parallel lines
To your oath of allegiance
Duty bound
In cold, lonely bunkers
In sub-zero temperatures
Fires burnt out
Do you carry your pain
By the side of your medal
As you bury your friend
In the darkness of night
In blustering winds
Crackle of gunfire
Does the trail
Stretch the distance
From your home
Far away
Where your children asleep
Alone and afraid
While you wake up
At dawn
In this other world
Estranged
Cold, white, silent
In this other world
So strange
Oh Soldier-Poet
Where do you carry
Your trail of pain?
-Rugmani Prabhakar
Rugmani Prabhakar, a journalist, became a teacher of meditation when she realised that neither in school nor college are people taught to manage their mind or emotions.
In the late 1970s, she pioneered The Art of Living’s work in the Gulf region, taught meditation to thousands of people and worked to uplift vulnerable populations through various social initiatives.
Returning to India in 2011, Rugmani Prabhakar dedicated herself to rural development, training locals to effectively collaborate with funding organisations. As Head of Sustainable Development for The Art of Living, she led the pioneering effort to create the influential India Impact Report.
During the pandemic, she devoted time to writing and established platforms for writers and poets. Her diverse literary works, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, have been featured in digital media and anthologies. She moderates literary events and co-curated The Glass House Festival of Poetry 2024. In 2023, she was awarded the Karnataka Women Achievers Award.
The Stillness Project 