THE NAKED HILLS (Satis Shroff)

THE NAKED HILLS (Satis Shroff)

A young Nepalese woman

Sits in front of her parents’ thatched home

In the Middle Hills of Nepal.

Her two hands caress her shoulders.

It’s cold in the hills of Nepal,

Where the hills are naked

And its sons have left

In search of better pastures,

For the hills are barren.

Governments and kings

Have come and gone,

But the poverty has remained.

There’s no flour to bake one’s bread.

The mothers seek and pluck Brennessel,

And call it sisnu,

To make a soup

In the frugal hills of Nepal.

In Maghey Sankrati we eat

Stems and roots,

Tarul and sweet-potatoes.

There’s no wheat, maize, rice or mustard

In these naked hills.

Everything has become bitter.

What remains is love and attachment.

A Nepalese bird still sings:

Kafal pakyo.

Kafal pakyo.

The berry’s ripe

Glossary:

Brennessel (Ger.): sisnu (Nepali), stinging nettle

Maghey Sankrati: festival in Nepal

pic courtesy: pixabay