Give me a hint, my princess
Don’t you have a dream?
Or just toil in hot sun
by the side of the road,
built for swanky cars to
speed by to distant hills.
I see a smile on your face,
perspiration trickling by.
Your hands slip a bit and
your mother smiles too
“that’s how you will learn,
making, correcting mistakes;
All your life, will go by;
Soon you will grow up
And work like me in
Hot sun, dumping sand
with your pretty hands
roughen like mine and
Your princess will be
helping you; you will be
reborn, again and again,
Endless cycle of births”
Lovely poem Rajendra. You have brought out the angst in all of us at this recurring cycle of poverty
Thanks, Sitapathi Koundinya
Very nice and touching. I was reminded of the first poet of Sanskrit:Valmiki.
There is a story how he composed his first verse in sanskrit, he was going to river ganges for daily ablutions, when he came across a stream of water. Impressed by the clarity of the water just like the mind of good man, he decided to bathe there. As he was looking to step into the stream, he saw a crane couple mating. Valmiki was very pleased to see the happy birds. Suddenly an arrow shot the male crane dead, filled with sorrow its mate screamed in agony and also died of shock. Valmiki’s heart melted at this pitiful sight. He saw the hunter with bows and arrows and angrily said
मां निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगमः शाश्वतीः समाः।
यत्क्रौंचमिथुनादेकम् अवधीः काममोहितम्॥
Translated it means
You will find no rest for the long years of Eternity
For you killed a bird in love and unsuspecting
These verses are his first shloka in Sanskrit Literature, which Valmiki said out of grief and rage. He was the first poet of Sanskrit literature. His contribution to vedic literature is unparalleled. He was the author of the great hindu epic Ramayana, which has 24000 verses in 7 chapters.
Thanks, Arun for taking time out to reply. You know the sentiments expressed in this poem stem from an organisation called Pratham that does tireless work on providing primary education to millions of children in India through funding by NRIs and others. Check out their site at http://www.pratham.org. They organise this education to at a very low cost
You have met my friend Yogi Patel at my Pratham Tarang (does the name ring bells?) program at Mahim last year.