WHAT YOU EAT IS WHAT YOU ARE! | A POEM
Amb Kanwal Sibal

What you ingest can tell one how
You tend to think, how you behave
We may therefore examine now
The things that Chinese stomachs crave

And what this tells about their conduct
In politics, investment, trade
Offering you a vital product
To cope with dangers China-made

Bats flying unerringly by night
Guide how the Chinese operate
Choosing with care strategies right
With skill their trade targets locate

From pangolins in tragic plight
They learn to build on massive scale
Like snakes they without warning bite
Those who step on the dragon’s tail

Like raccoons who break into bins
In urban spaces undeterred
For all environmental sins
China has become a byword

The centipedes with hundred feet
Explain how they can mobilise
Their hordes to competition beat
And supply chains monopolise

Worms spinning soft threads of silk
Have taught them to offer silk roads
To those whose resources they milk
By saddling them with huge debt-loads

Cats catch small prey under their paws
So we see in South China Sea
They pounce on small neighbours and laws
Of sea are broken stealthily

Canines bare teeth as is their wont
Their envoys have done that for long
With petulance because they don’t
Think China can do any wrong

The scorpions with their tails can sting
And cause you unexpected pain
So China holds back that one thing
That could halt your production chain

Like crickets with their soothing sound
The Chinese airs of peace can hum
While working hard to cause the ground
Beneath your feet to slip in sum

Tiger claws and bile of sun bears
Donkey skins- give Chinese force
As do rhino horns- which one fears
Are all part of the silent source

Of how China behaves, it’s in
Those attributes that do accrete
To them, which one can clearly pin
On all exotic things they eat!

The author is former Foreign Secretary & Member Advisory Council VIF


Image Source: https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/480926-why-preventing-a-viral-outbreak-is-not-as-simple

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