Sridevi Poem by Madathil Rajendran Nair

You flapped away
having sung your swan song of life
like a nightingale
in distant Dubai
away from your home Mumbai.

Am not an ardent fan,
but, I must confess,
indeed, very much you impressed;
you had my eyes riveted
on many an exuberant role you played
in the eighties and nineties

Your mesmerizing eyes,
a redone nose,
cocky visage and girlish exuberance
played on my heart-strings
and carried me away
in the danceful whirl
of your scintillating skirt-folds.

Then you staged a grand come-back
after a lengthy break,
bowled me over with a stupendous act
with your "English-Vinglish",
watching which I sobbed
in a cinema hall in Dubai.
Is it just coincidence that you chose
the same city now for your final depart! ?

I watched with awe -
you, ignored by an impervious husband,
and an immature house-hold
that didn't understand,
struggling to master
the nuances of English
and at last triumphing over their unkind arrogance
winning innumerable laurels.

You had your audience mesmerized
with your starry eyes
alternating mirth and anguish,
quivering lips fidgety
whispering magic,
innocent diction, wonderful timing.
Oh boy! That was a scene!

I watched today with a broken heart
my eyes welling
your mortal remains
vanishing in hungry flames.

You have been consumed
by the universal fire;
I am in silent tears.
There, at the backyard of my heart,
is a fallen flower, blood-red,
that will endure time
before it withers
singing tragic melodies to tearful grass

Oh, sweet and frail is human life;
Sridevi, rest in peace!
You enriched a stranger's life
What more was there to achieve? !