October 27,2005 – The Quandary Poem by Dr Anish Mathew John

(A personal one depicting the hardships endured by me and my family after being struck hard by a deluge in Chennai, India on Oct 27,2005. My life had turned upside down with just our lives alone spared. This is just what I had gone through then.)

Content a life, we led thus far
My spouse, my boy and our small dreams
A life so meek was all that bliss
Till time it came for floods to strike.

It drizzled, it rained and poured again
Showered all night for floods to rise
Came it all in just one blink
Found us caught with water around.

All things small, toys and bricks
And all things big, stove to fridge
All got socked full length immersed
For I could gape but do little.

Water it came up, up all hours
Time we’d little to wrap our sack
Toiled we two to find dry stuffs
To leave at once with all that left.

Lights were down, darkness filled
Brolly we had to cover little Chris
A baby in arms and a bag on back
My spouse stood close to wade through floods.

Hard we pushed our legs to front
So strong the currents, the force of floods
A mind so strong, a body so weak
Alas, we came to dry land fields.

Lucky that day, we found an inn
To rest our heads amidst all rains
A day it goes, a day it comes
Still lingers in mind, that painful day.