Rich Ride of Rama
Read on my dear children and my dear friends
and you would appreciate,
The rich ride that this farmer's son made has
something good to contribute.
On January eighteen, in forty he was laid in a
wooden cradle,
His parents and guardians are gone but gave
him a life to paddle.
The grandparents raised him well and told
him how to conduct his march,
His parents handed him great light and might
on his head as an arch.
His village home was his castle and his farm
was his childhood school,
He got ready to play with rural friends to swim
in the river but no pool.
Formative learning at a village school with
local teachers bright and smart,
This prepared him for the best high school
and gave him a head start.
Teachers from abroad instilled in him a love of
books and a bit of creative art,
Outdoor life and physical fitness were his
hobbies that made him so smart.
From Shakespeare, Tennyson, Blake and
Keats came some of his literary talents,
Dickens, Bronte` sisters, R L Stevenson and
Orwell gave him the needed patents.
Early to rise to do the farm chores and catch a
daily bus to school suited him,
Late to bed after his hard studies and some
more home work also suited him.
Fishing taught him the love of outdoor life and
a lot of practical patience,
Drama on the village and school stages
gradually led him to real existence.
All the journeys to the Sleeping Giant and the
Pacific Ocean were reflections,
That magnified the life that his elders and
friends had for his recollections.
Indoctrination somewhat complete he gained
an entry into a tertiary institution,
All the dreams of his elders realized when he
became a teacher after graduation.
While at the college he met his dream girl and
confessed his love silently,
As a test of maturity, she let him depart to do
some rural teaching distantly.
A year or two rolled by and their unconditional
love matured very distinctly,
Multiple contacts in the form of love letters
and phone calls came intermittently.
Their love grew fonder with the distance and
separation that kept them apart,
But their fate brought them together because
they could not remain apart.
The love doves got married and established a
family life and home that lasted,
Their work life strengthened and peace,
progress and prosperity got plastered.
They became the masters of their destination
and planned a perfect family life,
The journey of the family became fruitful with
only a few strife in their life.
Brisk wielder of the birch and rule he was the
master of the village school,
Success came rolling to him because he
gathered his knowledge pool.
Many promotions came to him and he was
awarded a prestigious scholarship,
He tuned his intelligent switch and attained a
few quality professional membership.
Together they served and moved from town to
town gaining techniques and tacts,
He gained the power to play the right games
and deal with all the needed facts.
Two sons and two daughters became the most
valuable treasures of their life,
After their respective marriages they produced
eight more treasures of their life.
Each of the grand children are the supersonic
giants full of power,
They too have inherited the strength and glory
of the tower.
All hopes, strengths and efforts were bestowed
on raising the children well,
Time moved on and their treasurers began to
move with great swell.
The ladder of their life was hard because there
was no escalator to take the stroll,
Each step on the trembling ladder took them
steep and tall to the highest window of the
wall.
There was no time to pause and listen or to
look down but to keep moving,
This was the motivation of the angel, his wife
who led him to the top roofing.
They reigned well and with joy on top of the
roof of their long fruitful life,
An ambitious expedition was planned to live
forever as husband and wife.
Wrapped in their own world in silence, so
deep, contended and still in love,
They almost made a golden journey of married
life but nature ended their move.
When his pretty lotus was laid to rest in peace
in the Centennial Memorial Gardens one day,
His heart and soul cried so heavily that no one
had seen such a sorrowful event any day.
He accompanied his angel and rode with her
soul on the final journey as she wanted,
The talk of them two during that lonely ride
can never be described and counted.
One life ended and one life destroyed and his
grieving heart and soul all shattered,
Creeping along from room to room in his
lonely home has all that now mattered.
The lovely life and peaceful journey of the past
is now his dread, pain and grief,
For suddenly his life has come to an abrupt
end and now seems to be very brief.
When would the storm and rain of tears in the
eye dry up and the river of sorrow flood?
When would these black clouds of loneliness
move away and stop to brood?
He is impatiently waiting to mount and ride
that life with his pretty lotus once again,
But he is all booted and spurred and they
reside on the opposite shores of the world
again.
The brilliant journey that began on a steed full
of valour and great enthusiasm,
Has reached the end and turned the tide out
to end the ride that has no fascination.
For he is now all lonely and spectral and
sombre and still but has not lost hope,
Alas as he looks to the empty sky above there
is no glimmer and no light of hope.
And yet deep down his hearty eagerness he
wants a reunion impossible that it may seem,
He wants to rekindle his love and light the
same flame that once was his beam.
His wife, his life and his inspiration has
vacated his village of lustre and love,
Now he sits all alone in the sandy desert of his
home that cannot be his cove.
He goes to bed to sleep but his slumber
dwindles away till the crowing of the cocks,
He wakes up all drowsy although the birds
and the dogs tell him the time of his clocks.
The home that was bubbling with her vibrancy
once is now all blank and bare,
There is nothing to rejoice or even to gaze at
the pretty face that once used to glare.
All the melodious music and the sweet twitter
of the birds among the trees mean nothing,
The best of the food and the sweetest drinks
give him tastes that feel nothing.
So this life of Rama has had a good ride until
his Pretty Lotus was his soul mate,
Now that she has gone to rest in peace, there's
no life in the village, the farm or the state.
The days begin, the nights go by but the
sorrow, pain and grief all gather on the floor,
To bring the darker clouds of fear, voice of the
unknown and a knock on the door.
All the fond memories come out to parade and
her sweet voices echo evermore,
Despite the genuine efforts of the loved ones to
heal, Rama cannot live anymore.
He is suffering from severe sleep apnoea and
NSIP is the diagnosis of his health,
His living is limited to each day and he has no
hope of improving his wealth.
A silent cry, some warm tears and a broken
heart is all that is left to measure,
But this Rama has created a collection of the
fond memorial of his Pretty Lotus to treasure.
This is a therapeutic treasury of the life that
began some fifty-five years ago,
When tomorrow starts without her he wants to
feel she is in his heart all aglow.
Everyday that passes by in grief he feels that
he loves his Pretty Lotus a lot more,
If they get another chance to live their love life,
it's assured that he would love her more.
Strength, dignity, warmth and good clothing
were her garment of humanity,
She opened her mind to wisdom and the law
of kindness in her vicinity.
Rama's Lotus looked well at all times and
managed her household well,
Why wouldn't such a brilliant maiden forever
be remembered and in heart dwell?
Her children and grand children rise up and
call her many times blessed,
Her husband has always praised her saying
„ My Pretty Lotus was truly blessed.”
Having read this my children and my dear
friends now you can all appreciate,
The ride that this farmer's son made in his
lifetime is something good to celebrate.
15th August 2014.
KEEP HER CLOSE
You are now old and feeble Lakhan, your head
is getting bald, and hair is gray,
You know you have reached your use by date
and are not fit for pulling a dray.
Time has flown and so has your youth your
limbs are now very supple,
Your eyes are getting weaker and you have
begun to see things in double.
Life was better on the farm when you were
jumping up and down the gully,
Life became boredom when you stopped all the
physical work and retired fully.
All the shortcomings were well managed when
you had your lovely wife around,
She has now departed for good your peace and
potency cannot be easily found.
Your wife was your life so strong in mind,
body and all her disposition,
Wake up old man, revive your old habits, try
to change your position.
Peace and order in old age come with love care
and discipline that she so strongly held,
Give her the honour and do not let any tears
fall but keep them all withheld.
Let the Pretty Lotus enjoy her slumber no
matter what season and weather come and
goes,
You mind your own business and do what is
needed to keep her close.
