(c) Aquarelle By Satis Shroff

GURKHAS: The Pen is Mightier Than the Khukri (Satis Shroff)

The Gurkhas fight England´s foes,

In far-off Hindukush,

A smart Gurkha gets decorated

By the Queen.

The British have lost

Their internal krieg

With the MoD.

A Gurkha beheads an Afghan enemy,

Carries it in his rucksack,

Shows it to his officer,

Who finds it ghastly.

More cuts are underway.

The British army is no longer 

A traditional fighting force.

The Gurkha doesn´t understand

The British world anymore,

For these were the grey-eyed sahibs,

Who praised the Gurkhas,

When they brought home,

The noses and ears 

Of Japanese soldiers,

In the Second World War.

Casualties, injuries and deaths,

Are a matter of statistics,

To the civil servants 

At Whitehall and the MoD,

Just logistics.

But a beheaded Afghan,

Dripping with blood,

With terror-stricken eyes,

Is a matter of morality 

And ethics,

Which never featured 

In the poor Gurkhas British curriculum.

350 British troops have died,

In military operations since 2001.

The historic Nepalese Gurkha brigade

Have been told they´ve been selected,

Not for promotion in to the ranks

Of British officers,

But for compulsory redundancy.

A speaker from 10 Downing Street says:

The Gurkhas have been 

Overrecruited,

Overstaffed.

Brit generals are vulnerable,

They have no answer 

To the army´s role,

When the Brits leave the Hindukush,

At the end of 2014.

Whitehall and the MoD

Are at loggerheads again.

What does a Gurkha do,

When he´s declared redundant?

140 will have to say goodbye

To Britain.

No Gurkha put in for voluntary redundance.

From 800 Gurkhas,

140 have to leave for Nepal.

So social benefits,

No NHS,

No perks.

A Gurkha mother asks herself:

´When will we Nepalese realise:

The pen is mightier than the khukri.