🌾 Wisdom Drop-36

“When Justice Walks, a Nation Begins to Breathe”

(A Poetic Wisdom Drop inspired by the ascent of Justice Surya Kant, 53rd Chief Justice of India)

There are moments in a nation’s life
when a single oath echoes louder than the crowd,
when a quiet signature becomes a shield
for millions who may never see the judge,
yet feel the warmth of his justice.

Justice does not arrive with sirens.
It walks barefoot,
carrying the dust of every unheard voice,
entering the courtroom with a lantern
lit by the Constitution itself.

Some judges read the law.
Others listen to the silences between the lines.
And once in a rare while,
a judge carries both the burden of duty
and the softness of understanding.

When Justice Surya Kant stepped forward
to take the oath as India’s 53rd Chief Justice,
the Constitution did not merely gain a custodian—
it gained a listener.

A listener who knows
that arrears are not just numbers,
but human stories waiting at the door.
That reforms are not just paragraphs,
but rivers that must be redirected towards fairness.
That power is not a throne,
but a responsibility to the unseen.

For justice is not a gavel—
it is a breath.
A breath that must never be delayed,
never be silenced,
never be surrendered.

And perhaps the greatest wisdom is this:
A nation is not judged by its laws,
but by the courage of the hands that uphold them.

May his tenure remind us
that democracies do not survive on elections alone,
but on the integrity of those
who safeguard the Constitution
when no one is watching.

For when justice walks with humility,
a nation begins to breathe again.

— IAS Monk