Resilience Poem by Ratnakar Rout

When waiting for a hair cut
I saw a rag clad lady baking cakes
Beneath a tree in front of a hut
Was sweating profusely
The summer morning sun was very cruel
And the humidity unbearable
The climate was unkind and harsh
An eight by eight feet hutment
Of polythene clad roof was looking like
A dungeon and housing a family of five members
A typical slum area of the market place
Where there was heaps of garbage here and there
Residents were accustomed to pungent smell and bad odour
A narrow passage was in-between the huts and
A tiny temple, the place of worship
That was the resting place of the market dwellers
The lady shouted at the younger son who had
Just finished his bath in a road side water tap
And he was completely drenched and bare
She too ordered him in local slang to convey the elder son
Roaming in the market carefree with birthday hangover
To take bath before the water supply gets discontinued at 8.30AM
And have a ‘darshan’ to the God on this auspicious occasion
Conveying the message he came back quickly
And entered in to the hut
The lady expressed artificial anger on him
And directed the youngest daughter to
Transmit her instructions to
The eldest son for taking bath and to come soon
Her husband while changing
His wet clothes on the temple varandah
Could not digest the rudeness of his wife
Repeatedly expressed by her on
The conduct of the eldest child on his birthday
He cautioned the lady mildly
The youngest daughter intimated
In the mean while that her brother is
In waiting to take bath as the public water
Tap is over crowded. Restlessly the lady
Was baking the cake and doing
Other works in between with renewed enthusiasm
I was watching this fabulous birthday
Preparation of the entire family and became
Amazed at this matchless eagerness and curiosity
That is rarely found in the families living in plenty
It is always not true that people in lots
Will be happy always and people with
A little means of livelihood cannot enjoy life and live happily
It is the attitude how one accepts life
With what means one has in his kit.
I marked the insurmountable family bond
And mutual love and affection amidst acute poverty
Which are usually not seen in plenty?
The relation was pure, unadulterated
And minds were as transparent as morning sky
No hypocrisy, no artificiality, no back biting, nothing like
Unhealthy and unpalatable bickering were noticed
Looking at them I introspected myself
While waiting there calmly and felt
As if I have lost something very dear to me somewhere
But the very next moment I realised
I am endowed with immense pleasure
And have regained instantly some precious lost treasure