[sustran] Re:poem

[Akila Dinakar]

A poem on the recent incident at Mannady in Chennai.
                      The Perilous Path
                      -----------------
What a cherubic boy was he
Barely five and raring to go
His eyes had just opened
To the joys of this earth.

Tamilmani, he was named
By hopeful parents
That one day he will adorn
His mother tongue like a jewel in the crown.

Only cheer knew he when
Trotting home from school
Satchel yoked behind, eager
To gorge on Mama's evening delicacies.

He knew not what was in store
When eyes gaping and heart jubilant
He set foot on soil loose
Down he went and eight feet deep.

And thus began a saga
That brought inconspicuous Mannady
A tiny spot in North Chennai
To hog the international flashlights.

Was it for this that the fateful path
Was named Aadiya Padam Street?
Nataraja danced, but surefooted enough
He did not fall into a thirty-feet bore well.

And when Tamilmani did fall
Every tongue wagged about how perilous
Our city roads are - lip sympathy the
Easiest help to offer.

Sure there was assistance
For the milk of human kindness still flows
They tugged at his shirt
And his collar came ripping off.

Not content with holding him eight feet within
Mother earth sucked in the lad
Loosening her throat
Into her 30-feet long mouth.

There he stayed for two days and nights
As humanity worked above
Pumping gallons of oxygen
Digging and redigging wells about him.

When the whole world watched
On television and newspapers
Fire service remained hopeful each minute
At 1-30 past midnight they sniffed death.

Onlookers aghast - their prayers in vain
When personnel in masks drew out of cruel earth
Chirpy, joyous and bouncy Tamilmani
Secure in a jute sack.

When it was all over - the three day drama
Arc lights off, all went back home
Like dispersing after a thrilling school game
Letting Tamilmani into the hospital morgue.

The Government announced solatium
Of a few lakhs of Rupees
But the grief of loss for doting parents
Can it ever replace?

Here was one case of social apathy
An illegal well scooped out
Covered like a camouflage trap
Laid in the forest to catch an elephant.

But how many we have in our cities and villages
Pushing the hapless pedestrian
To the edge of extinction
Is one Tamilmani enough or do we need more?

                          - Akhilananda Bharati.







_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp