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Hindu Anarchy Coming To India: Cantos I to V
Political Poem
P. S. Remesh Chandran
Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum
Image by ..... Graphics: Adobe SP.
Sahyadri Books Trivandrum presents the first-of-its-kind political poem from India: HINDU ANARCHY COMING TO INDIA:
Hindu Anarchy Coming To India: Cantos I to V
Political Satire In Poetry
P. S. Remesh Chandran
I.
FARMERS’ FAREWELL
P. S. Remesh Chandran
A common confrontation between
Man and animals
From the wild, are pigs roaming farm lands
Destroying the crops
Of pöor farmers, it’s indeed a
Problem in Indian states
With forest borders, acute in her
Many smaller states.
In larger states where lands are vast
And circumference of
Pigs’ roaming areas big, those only
Near the woods suffer,
But in small states like 'Kerala where
Ham'lets and villages
Are not too far from forest bound’ries
Tribals can’t raise crops.
Paddy and plantain, vegetables,
Tapioca, tea,
And rubber, are the earning crops of
Those outermost states,
But these unfortunately are the
Very things they like
To devour and uproot by night to the
Dismay of the day.
When someone sees in the sunup the
Ploughing the pigs did
During the yester night, his heart is
Broken and he weeps,
For they can’t leave their lands for they have
Nowhere else to go,
Nor can they a'bandon th’ages-old
Occupation of farming.
In days of old the farmers had
Se'veral techniques neat
To harness pigs, this problem was not
Severe in those days,
Of one was building watch-huts in the
'Middle of the fields and
Watching they come, and creating much
Din and noise by
Cracking firearms and banging vessels
Driving them away:
This surely was not as easy as
Singing in this song.
It is a very dang’rous business,
Man-attacking pigs
From the wild are most vicious in their
'Ferocity and thoroughness
Of attacks. Have anyone ever seen a
Farmer attacked by
Wild pigs? Indeed it is a very
Horrible sight to see.
If farmers do this technique now, the
Nearby residents
Would file com'plaints against sound pollution
And 'cases will begin.
So then they constructed fences with
Firearms hanging from,
Which when the pig touches the fence
Would fall down and explode,
Driving the 'pigs away, but Police
Ob'structed this practice
For there was firearms involved, so they
Turned to other tricks,
Including passing electri'city
Through their fences, which
Soon were dismantled for inviting-
Deaths and accidents.
So then they started shooting pigs with
Homemade shot guns, soon
Forest and Revenue Departments came
Prosecuting them.
Those who eat them say pigs are very
Delicious to eat,
All know that their numbers are more than
Enough to be eaten,
Or protected, the law is clear: they
Can’t be shot at will,
But who will take in farmers in
Protected Animals’ List?
So now the cause of farmers lost, their
Fields and farm sheds rot;
And jungle encroaches their homesteads,
Like those Inca homes.
(Written and first published on: 08 December 2020)
Hindu Anarchy Coming To India: II
Political Poem
II
TWO STATES BEGIN FIGHTING
P. S. Remesh Chandran
Which is the easiest way to make two
Indian states to fight?
One is to throw power, language, water-
Issues on their face.
So you’ll have got two Dravid states
Fighting eternally,
O’er slight and petite things for decades
Meaningless, mundane,
So that your Aryan Empire in the
North will have its way
Of flourishing and bringing in caste and
Sect-bred troops set free.
Not one but multiple such issues
Let loose on the south
On the twin sister-states of Tamil Nadu
And Kerala have worn
Out sistership, brotherhood and good-
Will among these two
Peoples, and eroded their history
Of a common past.
Mullapperiyar Dam Water Issue,
Imposing Hindi,
And Koodankülam Atomic Power
Plants are but a few,
Devised by central government to
Keep them warring on
And smoth’ring each other instead of
Pooling their resources.
We will examine each and weigh how
Hampered they progress,
Before we’re onto the treachery of the
Telengana State.
(Written and first published on: 08 December 2020)
Hindu Anarchy Coming To India: III
Political Poem
III
KERA'S FAREWELL TO KERALA
P. S. Remesh Chandran
We have heard ancient travellers to
Kerala from abroad,
In centuries past describe a tree
'Several meters high,
With small leaves from its toes to the head
Entwining to the top,
With parti-colored ball-like small nuts
Clustered all along,
And big leaves and big nuts at the top,
Looking magnificent
And spreading shade and shadows awhile
Resting on the ground.’
Sure in those times every coconut
Tree in Kerala
Were pepper-twined, the plant encircling
Every coconut trunk,
Doubling the fortune from the trees-
Pepper and coconut-
From this prosperity was named the
State of Kerala,
Deriving the term from the Kera
Or the coconuts,
Meaning the Land of Coconuts, well
Remembered by world
And registered in account books
Throughout the world in the
Capitals and ports in the famous
Ancient Pepper Route,
Like Kashmir had its ancient famous
'Silk Trading Routes
Begins there the semblance these two states
Share in north and south.
The straight and hard trunk of this tree is
Lumber for the house,
The broad and long leaves interwoven
Serves as roof for homes,
The nuts are food, when expelled oil,
Fermented liquor,
Whatever is unsaid here goes straight to the
Household kitchen fire.
So useful head-to-foot for man with
Not an inch left out-
No wonder this incredible tree
They named their state after.
Now none there is to climb the coconut
Trees in Kerala,
The crops dry and fall by their own at
Dead of night and lie
There, for the neighbours to pick up and
Collect at their will-
Though none the owners have any use, the
Others have their use.
Many think, when ripe, coconuts will
Come down anyway
And could be picked up, and the leaves too
Will fall when they’re dry.
But what about cleaning the crown?
Moreover, the landowner
Cannot wait everyday at the foot of the
Tree for 'the nuts to fall,
So that he can pick up it before
Another does. ‘Tis true
Many coconut tree-climbers suffer from
Calloused hands and legs,
And many occasionally fall and they
Too have families
To be taken care of. But considering
Present rates and late
Success of labour welfare acti-
Vities in this field,
They certainly can make a living out
Of this profession.
Most of the old tree-climbers have
Already passed away,
But the new generation turns their
Faces to this walk,
Exactly like what happened in the
Rice fields in the state.
All of a sudden, cultivation of
'This crop cumbersome
And unattractive became, unrest
Settled, there were none
To address this crisis, and havoc
Reeked, but none were there
To bring this situation to the
Public attention,-
The one who did it was a joker and
Belovèd genius.
A 'Coconut Climbing Training College
Instituted once
To train the modern generations
In this age-old art,
Of climbing coconut trees step-by-step
And cleaning the crown,
And cutting nuts and palm leaves, and with
Unerring precision
Throwing them down among those who stand
Below watching him,
-Child, housemaid, husband, and his aide- but
Never touching them.
A witty genius Raamadaasan
Vaidyan started it,
Who once did one venerable act of
Honoring the lone
Washing stones at the Kozhikkodan
Beaches, garlanding
And praising them in public meetings
For their services,
Rendered to people through many decades
And centuries- one
Selfless and self destructive service
Free-of-cost to all!
What authorities ought to have done was
Permitting farmers
To make light liquor Toddy out of
The trees liberally
Under official supervision,
Which should have helped these
Farmers sustain themselves and the sur-
Vival of the trees.
But how will the hard-liquor indu-
Stry and mafia
Allow this happen, so it would straight
Eat into their realm?
(Written and first published on: 09 December 2020)
Will continue….
Began to be written and first published as serial on: 08 December 2020
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Post:
P. S. Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books, Trivandrum, Padmalayam,
Nanniyode, Pacha Post, Trivandrum- 695562, Kerala State, South India.
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