Svargadapi Gariyasi.....

जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी।

This phrase, from a shlok of the Valmiki Ramayan, is the response of Ram when asked by Lakshman whether he wanted to remain in the rich and prosperous Lanka. This is what he said:-

अपि स्वर्णमयी लङ्का न मे लक्ष्मण रोचते 

जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी।

"Lakshman, even this golden Lanka does not appeal, 

The Mother and the Motherland are to me, far greater than heaven."

Read on:

A hindu and a muslim boarded the summer train:
The muslim, sarkari babu and old.
The hindu, soldier and young.
One, white skull-cap on head,
The other, red threads on left wrist.
And then there was me-
Mute, part-time atheist;
Voyeur.

The train groaned to a start.
Cellphones beeped, goodbyes were said:
As-Salaam-Aleykum, Khairiyat, Khudaah Haafiz....
Pranaam, Yeah OK, Bye......

The coach was AC.
Yet a heaviness rose in the air and then settled:
Hot.
Cloying.
Intervening.
As silence ruled-
Dogmatic.

The world began flashing by;
The land framed in two Be-Tuf windows:
Cities, villages, stations;
Rivers, low hills and fields.....

Suddenly, the soldier said,
'Our country is so green,'
More to himself than to anybody else.
Yet the babu turned his head
Listening, eyes shining.
'The green of our country,'
The soldier finished softly,
'Is the most beautiful.........!'

(I snorted inwards.
Huh!
What of the Amazon's emerald green?
Or
The Barrier's turquoise?)

The train paused just then.
A flock of grey-blue animals pranced into view.
'Nilgai!' explained the sage old man.
'Really!!' smiled the delighted young man.

'Have you seen the peacocks
when they descend in flocks?'
The old man asked, smiling.
'You know, the Peacock, our National Bird?
So beautiful.....'

The young man smiled back.
'Yes.
Very beautiful!'

The train chugged to life and moved once more;
Within it,  two men that gazed at their Land flow by,
Framed in two Be-Tuf windows.

And I?
I said nothing, just watched it dance in their eyes:
A Love-Light!
(Have they turned up the AC?
I wondered.)
It was cool now inside,
As if वसन्त
Had seeped in from outside

And the clattering train sang to me-
जननी जन्मभूमिश्च
स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी.......!