A Ruined Life
Although I’m far, far away
from the cradle
in which I was born and bred
and now old and feeble like a thread,
the village is still with me
in my very heart,
refusing to depart!
Lotus ponds and honey bees,
green velvet of paddy fields,
cool breeze and the golden moon,
silky dunes and silver lagoon,
palmyra lands and coconut palms,
vegetable gardens and cattle farms
cocks that broke my morning sleep,
cuckoos’ calls that made me leap,
tricky tracks through thorny woods
treed roads and bullock carts,
temple festivals and folks’ arts
people’s games on sandy grounds
were all -
language of my nature,
nature of my joy,
joy of my blood,
blood of my very life,
now ruined by the communal strife!
But my beloved village, Nunavil
is still with me and be ever will!
