Well And River, Inequitable. Poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

A bath in a river is soothing to your skin.
But the river cannot replace the well.
From well water, you sooth your throat.
So the well has no reason to fear the river.

The one who swims in a river
Returns home with renewed vigour.
His desire to swim in the river
Is not his hate to draw from the well.

No grace will the well lose
Because his master visited the river.
No shame does the river has
Because her visitor is not her master.

One will not desert one’s wife
Because the one courted a tart.
24.03.2001, Pmdi