DEBACLE

 

DEBACLE

 

Exorbitant constructions near,

Villagers build embankment high,

The river bends near the village,

Wider river bed sandy year long,

Bluewater for months rest muddy,

Worth sight children swimming happy,

Bathing ghat villagers delight,

Wonderful sight washerman busy,

Women bathe in separate ghat,

Brushing teeth, washing cloth,

Collect water carry earthen pots,

Astonishing pot on head balanced,

They walked miles to the village,

Village life is never happier river helps,

White furs long stick outgrowth,

A sight nostalgic play with the wind,

Village life is likewise wavy ecstatic,

Early morning peasants get busy,

Lifts water from the river by well-pole,

Shaduf hundred raise water to canals,

Much later, diesel pump with pipes,

Irrigated fertile soil vegetation,

I was thinking of fresh vegetable millet,

Big banyan trees on the other side,

An earthen road rises to embankments,

Acres of empty field shaded by trees,

Village hat my mesmerizing youth,

From buttons to wooden furniture on sale,

Pumpkins to potatoes, A to Z,

Corn, millets, grain bargain watching,

Worth bargain barter for rice, cattle,

Cows, bullock, and ox are sold at a  price,

Goat, hen, sheep marketed in a market,

Early dawn once a week to evening,

A cluster of nearby villages depends totally,

Women purchase saree, vermilion, bangle,

Comb, hairpin, safety pin, needle, thread,

Monthly need for mother, they purchase,

Steamed rice grains, potato curry,

Millet cakes with curd, spices,

Dreams for eateries, aromatic young life,

I was lost in thoughts night was dark,

Sleeping on highway pitch road,

A canvas tent with a kerosene stove,

Stay with family, my children,

Brought our domestic cow few goats,

Tied to my tent with lined tents,

Thousand villagers, womenfolk,

Children crying loudly, sick, hungry,

It was pouring rain-soaked to the bone,

Few serve cooked rice, biscuit, cloth,

Medicine for the sick, milk powder, soap,

Water canes distributed to marooned,

Below water covers till the horizon, gray,

No sign of our village, trees only top,

Calm waters or flooded river silent,

Fortunate, at midday, the river intruded,

Embankment gave way to flooding water,

It was a night I was alert for snakes,

Large construction took years,

A week back crashed with flood furry,

For decades people thought safe, secure,

The debacle tore our belief marooned,

A debacle death, horror, imprinted,

Thank God the highway saved us.  

 

@ Bijayananda Mishra