I stopped my cycle abruptly
gazing at a dark hulk in that dead of night
on the rutted track under a banyan tree
with its branches widely stretched around.
I reversed a few yards slowly
with my eyes focused on that figure.
To borrow some money from my uncle in a village,
twenty kilometers off ANJA College, Sivakasi,
I slipped out of the hostel after nine.
(As a student of Physics, I would miss
practical classes if I went on leave
on a working day.When my father died,
I was absent for two, three days,
and I missed to do the experiment of Boyle's Law.
I got no chance to do it on a holiday.
Fate tricked me and the same experiment,
I got at the University Examination.
I lost grades and was the ‘one in two'
Second Class Degree Holders in that year.)
I hired a cycle and pedaled fast alone.
I had already heard tales of murders,
waylaying and chain-snatching at twilight
under that tree.All these things bustled in my mind.
I passed off the tree across the cotton-field
and felt ensconced a little.
As I had no fear for the ghosts,
I hurled some stones on that gargantuan shape.
My God! A black buffalo was traipsing aside
and with a smile, I rode again on my foal,
which had no dynamo and I had no Cell or Torch.
After a fortnight, my Hostel Warden,
Prof. Paunraja, a gem of fatherly affection
called me out and I walked in feigning a sad face.
"You're an ideal student. Go and study well",
he said these brief, abrupt words.
"Why he said so? ", the question,
still remains unanswered in my mind.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
You could create such absorbing suspense all through your lonesome ride in the dead of the night, past that ominous bunyan tree! ! I thoroughly enjoyed this great write! !