His breaths stank decay and death unlike
The accustomed smell of toil, and despair
A lingered wish choked out in broken words,
Amid long cough in vague and feeble voice,
family members gathered around his bed
And looked at each other in deep anguish:
It was odd hours of past midnight, rain wet
Unfavourable to wish tender coconut water
Annoyed and distressed in deep thirst
His eyes were rolling like search lights
For the drink to cool his parching throat.
But nobody dared to venture and explore
His teen son climbed up a coconut tree
Among the row of them in front of the hut
All planted by him and nurtured in his sweat.
As a bonded tenant in the soil of his landlord
Hardly had the plucked nut been cut open
A gang of the landlord's goondas gusted in
And snatched it away asking in hot temper,
'How dare you devil steal landlord's coconut, ? '
Too feeble was he to withstand their blows,
Nor was able to run away being tied to the tree
Hard kicks and thrashes collapsed him
And sunk him to the depths of a tragic death
Amidst the noise of struggles and violence
Nobody noticed the old man ending his tenancy
Having spread the terrible thirst to his veins
And a spook of pain storming inside the chest
Abundance exploited from the life of the poor
Castles built on their tombs in cruel deception
Cups of life snatched away from their lips
Have never withstood the test of perilous time
We have this problem too before but with the implementation of Agrarian Reform, .tenants rights have been fully protected. Great presentation, Sir.
The state government of Kerala in their reforms have protected the rights of the tenant long ago.
A great depiction of one of the ills of society. So deeply poignant and heartrending.
It's a true picture of the old society which was dominated by the evils of landlords
Sir you have penned it do well....your reflected the bonding and nurturance on one side and oppression and ruling nature the show on the other hand. The goons and the thirsty doul that passed away unquenched...sir this aspect of society is to be introduced snd understood.
The social system of that time was very much complex. The landless were made to suffer a lot by the landlords. They were oppressed so much that they had to work from dawn to dusk without much return. So many poems and stories have come out on the subject. Thank you Varsha so much
Thank you very much dear friend for the comments. The poem is based on realities that had happened long ago when the landlord-tenant system was prevaing in our region
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
A poignant poem that brilliantly depicts a series of unfortunate adversities of a tenant. The lines that add value to this thought provoking poem are: , 'His eyes were rolling like search lights For the drink to cool his parching throat.
Yes dear Dr. Dillip humane considerations were foreign to the cruel landlords. They had looted everything from the helpless tenants. Their cruelty did cross the limits of everything they valued.