SALTY RICE: A TRIBUTE TO INDIAN FARMERS

 

SALTY RICE

I behold these red grains boiling

Tossing and swelling in my cooking pot

Eyes fiery-red, my blood simmering

In my grief-stricken heart turning hot

 

I behold the hot steam spiralling upwards

And hot tears are trickling down my face

Ascends this steam as a soul heavenwards

Perhaps it is him – But I can't see his face

 

Never known him - that farmer

His children or his wife

Knew him only as a nourisher

Before he ended his life

 

Never seen his then-rugged hands

That grew precious crops

Not seen his now-parched lands

That yearn for raindrops.

 

With honour he tilled, with others by his side

Season after season – hot and cold, wet and dry

And when he saw them commit suicide

He too killed himself – could no longer cry!

 

A teardrop just fell into this pot

The steam now dwindling

The rice is now dry and hot

I take a spoonful of serving

 

It tastes salty...very saline!

Could it be from his sweat?

Or from his tears or mine?

The farmer who I never met

 

***** Ratish Iyer *****



Splendid poems from THE BOOK OF MIRDAD - by Mikhail Naimy

THE BOOK OF MIRDAD is my no.1 favorite book - in fact if the essence from the words of this book could be absorbed by you, then you don't need any other spiritual books to guide you. It is no ordinary book. A dictionary would assist your mind in understanding the words. But it is your intuition that will guide you in absorbing the nectar of wisdom that the author offers. No wonder he did not feel the need to write any other book after this one!

God is your captain, sail, my Ark!

Though Hell unleash her furies red

Upon the living and the dead,

And turn the earth to molten lead,

And sweep the skies of every mark,

God is your captain, sail, my Ark!

Love is your compass, ply, my ark!

Go north and south, go east and west

And share with all your treasure chest.

The storm shall bear you on its crest

A light for sailors in the dark.

Love is your compass, ply, my Ark!

Faith is your anchor, ride, my Ark!

Should thunder roar, and lightning dart,

And mountains shake and fall apart,

And man become so faint of heart

As to forget the holy spark,

Faith is your anchor, ride, my ark!

And another poem from the same book which is truly motivating:

Though feverish days toss you hither and yon,

And starless nights enfold you in their gloom,

And you be cast upon the world’s crossroads,

With no footprints or signs to show the way,

Yet would you fear no man or circumstance,

And would you have no shadow of a doubt

That days and nights, as well as men and things

Would seek you soon or late and meekly beg you

To command them.

For you have gained the confidence of Night.

And he who gains the confidence of Night

Can easily command the coming day.

Poem

My Quest

 

In the beginning, I was seeking
Seeking for that one thing
The ultimate answer for everything

In my quest, I started questioning
Aeons of teaching, unfathomable conditioning
No more suppressing, no more repressing
Accepting all, resisting nothing

All of it I enjoyed experiencing
The peaks and valleys of joy and suffering

To understand 'this', 'that' I was pursuing
Like the river to a sea, a seeker I was being

In the end one day, entered a light so shining
Into my essence, like the sunlight of the early morning

Enlightenment is the journey, not the seeking
It is not about becoming, but simply being

 

 Ratish            **********