My village on River Mahi
Thou shalt stay long in memories
As waterhole to unwind in sweltering June,
From crusty school grounds ah to refreshing farmlands
That beckoned us from morn to noon to moon.
And how we arrived in a bullock cart
Moving in tune with the pace of unfolding night--
Mere eight miles taking all the night apart
To reach when dawn was kissing the day light.
I was one among the cartload
Of kids, adult ladies possesst by sleep,
All adult males walking by the dust road,
Kids excited, sleep lost in starry leap.
The oxen pair when called out each to each,
The cart-man when cleared his dry throat,
And dawn in sight, stars too were caught in sleep,
We reached, duly wrapped by a dusty coat.
Soon when I heard a strange bird sing
Close by, proclaiming brief reign of a dawn,
A few more too called as if confirming,
What symphony welcoming a new morn!
Once there, I met my friend Mahi River
That charmed some chieftains to choose this village,
The river flowing full banks all the year,
Some memories do get cast in image.
The river was why the village ere was,
Whose life along its waters flowed,
From pre-bath chores and daylong thereafter,
And swimming till the sun to its tallest height strode.
There, munching on the choicest of mangoes
My month-long pass-time of choice was,
Men guarding fields my only foes,
Whilst roaming in lush fields, an aimless cause.
Alas, a month passes like one short sprint,
Days an endless song, sunrise to sunset,
Soon it was time to return from ‘short’ stint
To tiring old routine by elders set sans let.
A lot gets lost when from a tired old mind,
How I remember my village for long?
We often live and leave a lot behind,
Yet, deeply etched remains this childhood’s cherished song.
_______________________________
Nostalgia | 03.09.2012 | river, remember, village, visit, vacation, quatrain
Note: Madhavas, a small village in the hills of west-central Gujarat. River Mahi, also known as Mahi Saagar, one of the perennial rivers in Gujarat. This poem happened when my childhood memories beckoned me to revisit my ancestral village on this river.
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