Ekla chalo re / Just walk alone.
Kishore Kumar
If they answer not to thy call walk alone,
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou of evil luck,
open thy mind and speak out alone.
If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
O thou of evil luck,
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone
If they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,
O thou of evil luck,
with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart
and let it burn alone.
Rabindranath Tagore (*)
(*) Ekla chalo re is a song written by the Nobel prize winning poet Rabindranath Tagore, and is a part of the Rabindra Sangeet canon.
Ekla Chalo Re was first published in Bhandar magazine’s September 1905 issue. It was titled as Eka. The music of this song is inspired by Harinaam Diye Jagat Matale, a popular Kirtan song of that time. As a patriotic song Ekla Chalo Re was included in the "Swadesh" (Homeland) section of Tagore’s lyrical anthology Gitabitan.
It exhorts the listener to continue his or her journey, despite abandonment or lack of support from others. The song is often quoted in the context of political or social change movements; Mohandas Gandhi cited it as one his favorite songs.