A Music Concert At The Suruli Hills! Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

‘ p..e..n..n..y..c..u..i..c..k',
sing the cuckoos from the trees
and the mellow music swells,
the Suruli dell and paddy fields.
The falls from the nearby knolls
chimes: 'p..e..n..n..y..c..u..i..c..k',
and dribbles over the breeze to cool
and makes it whistles the tune of
‘p..e..n..n..y..c..u..i..c..k'.
The rills through which water flows
down the hills from the Dam,
fills the dales with red soil
and tells the Tamils who till the lands
to recall their Lord Col. Pennycuick
who sold his own estates in Eng-lish land
and buil tthe strong Mullai Periyar Dam
across the western ghats
to slake the thirst of the Tamils
and their land where the minstrels are born.
The thankful ancient race
collect around the statue of their Lord,
cook sweet rice, ring out a peal of bells
and yell out, 'Pongalo Pongal'
and the name of Pennycuick.
on this day, his birth day
and their New Year Day,
the fifteenth January
and feed all with rice and sugarcane
and their bulls too which jingle
the chain of bells tied around their necks.
- 15.01.2012.