Walks Of Life Poem by Shankaran Kutty

In the capital city some time ago
People from all walks of life
With all their worries and grouses in tow
Met to discuss their strife

Said the doctor- I tell my son
Whoever born must one day die
But to watch them die is certainly no fun
And when they do, I sit and cry

The carpenter then came up to moan
I always try as best as I could
But this wood I think is harder than stone
Oh it is so tough working with wood

The goldsmith then stood up to speak
All that glitters is not gold
In my life it is perfection I seek
When a speck of gold to jewellery mould

The blacksmith who works in a red hot smithy
Beating iron in a flame, with his tool
Said he is sad none gives him any sympathy
They think his job is quite so cool

The Engineer who sat in the very last row
In his coat and suit, he stood up so tall
To address the crowd he first gave a bow
The last bridge he built third day did fall.! !

Then stood up the humble nurse
Who looked so pretty, petite and young
In work of God does she daily immerse
Yet the work she does is most unsung

The teacher said, I may not be rich
But the greatest pleasure comes my way
When little lives I daily enrich
That to me is my biggest pay

Then there was the civil servant
Who thought he was so special
He looked like the local temple elephant
His behaviour, indeed, was so banal

Then came the politician
And he was the biggest bore
Who went on and on with stories he spun
A hypocrite to the core

Finally came a man who looked so wise
Who spoke with a lot of sense
His words were fresh like new formed ice
He spoke without pretence.

"All of us take myriad ways
To meet our goals in life
Hard work fills each of our days
With thorns our paths are rife

Yet we should the pleasures seek
In happy bonding of our mind
To evil we shall not surrender meek
And peace we shall then find "

And thus that meeting that day did end
And for me who was there as a bard
I found that time was for me well spent
To understand why life is so hard.