AGNI kokh se janma mein/ chimney ka dhuan nahin/shram ka tapt itihaas hoon/aakash par ankit/dharti ki gahri likhawat hoon/aaj simta hua/kal aachadit mein shram ki vijayee dhumra-dhwaja hoon/bhavishya ka hastakshar hoon/bhukhe peto me mein bhi palta hoon ashroo nahin angaar ban nikalta hoon/dhah jate hain sab maan jab kaal-dhwaja phairati hain/mein kaalikh nahin "kaal-likh hoon"/safedposhon ki dahshat hoon.
(Born of the womb of fire, I am no mere chimney-smoke, I am the tempered history of labour. Writ across the sky, I am a message from the earth. Confined today, billowing out tomorrow, I am the victory-pennant of labour—I am the signature of the future. I live in the stomachs of the hungry, and emerge not as tears but as fire. All other standards fall when the flag of fate is raised. I am not mere dirt, I am the "kaal-likh", epoch-writer. I strike terror in the hearts of the respectable.)