Zeitgeistlyrik: The Colonel's Bride & Saila (Satis Shroff)

THE COLONEL’S BRIDE (Satis Shroff)

I’d seen her earlier,

Happy with her officer husband,

A colonel from the Cat Division,

As she alighted from the camouflaged Nissan jeep.

They went about shopping in the bazaar.

The Gorkha orderly helped carry the big basket.

A year ago they were so cheerful,

Now he was dead.

Died in action in the Rann of Cutch,

Blown away by Pak artillery.

Now she walks along the railway tracks of the toy-train,

Not along the roads with pedestrians and shops.

She is in sorrow and cries bitterly,

In this strange mountain town.

She abhors the words of comfort and solace

From the denizens of this high town.

You feel for her: her agony and pain,

And watch her breaking down.

* * *

SAILA (Satis Shroff)

Saila, the youngest son

Went to school but dropped out.

He returned a few years later,

With a green military truck,

On holiday from his Gorkha battalion.

A proud, smart Nepalese,

Whose white teeth flashed,

Whenever he smiled.

His mother lived in the Eastern hills,

A hard working Nepalese lady,

Wore a green potay mala and gold on her nose.

She carried firewood from the deep valleys.

His mother longed for her son,

Who’d fallen against India’s enemy.

* * *