DR. A. AMULRAJ

TWO POEMS BY 

Dr.A.AMULRAJ

Rendered in English by Latha Ramakrishnan(*First Draft)

1.MOTHER’S WISH GONE WITH THE WIND

Mother had grown Kanakaambaram plants 

at the doorway.

In orange hue

flowers swelling all over the plants

Would crawl as child

 throughout the night

In rain and wind 

would dance blissfully

Visitors to our house

eyed them eagerly and enquired 

Heaping sand outside

for erecting compound wall

these plants had to be plucked 

and cast aside.

Left for job 

I returned home 

when it was getting dark.

The plants that have lost 

even the handful of sand 

where they dwelt

were lying in a corner near the wall 

as corpses squeezed into

 one heap.

There is no chance of those withered plants

spreading roots and sprouting.

Even so

I can’t throw them away, 

you know

2.THE PRIDE AND GLORY OF FATHER

For all three children

Father had constructed houses

each, one.

Door-frame, windows door

in Vengai, and Teak wood

Snakes proving a menace

I sent word for mason

for erecting a compound wall

and consulted him.

13 pillar

Pit, 2 by 4

35 gunny bags of cement

10 M Bars

8 M Bars

M-Sand, Crushed stones

-Thus he gave me a list.

They dug the pit

For each pit 

Wage Rs.600 

Mason’s wage 850

Construction labourer 550

At last

In 1 lakh 10 thousand

The compound wall stood there

at the ground-level.

The entrance has to be elevated to 

the road height

Bring sand 35 load

Only then the work can be done

Said the mason.

Somehow searched and found it

and heaping sand in the tractor

I levelled it.

For erecting the compound wall

No money left.

The money got 

mortgaging wife’s pair of ear-rings

helped only to complete half of the work

For the 48000 got from Mahes

monthly interest 800 rupees.

‘You didn’t listen to me at all’

 Says My better-half.

And, you know -

My father was uneducated.