A Tale Of Two Fathers Poem by Asit Kumar Sanyal

I was six
A class one student
in my village primary school
Once my grandmother came to school
Met the headmaster
Asked him to change my father's name
He did so without any question
Then headmaster came in my class
Told me to stand up on the Bench
I did so.

The school was basically a long hall
Had no partition between the classes
He said loudly ….
Children, attention please!
See this boy carefully
He got a new father yesterday
And his surname changed to ‘Sanyal'
Every student looked at me
Some laughed, some surprised
I came down from the bench.

Previous day a function was held
Religious function for adoption of child
My new father adopted me
In front of sacrificial fire
Following rituals and chanting Vedic mantras
Hundreds of people witnessed it
Enjoyed a grand feast and blessed me
My new father smiled
Real father wept
And I became the son of two fathers.