The Crab Catcher Poem by Debendra Majhi
The Crab Catcher
In the dense hazy morn
Horizon beyond recognition
The monsoon not yet resigned
The crows still nest-crouched
Tattle birds not woken up
To break stillness of dawn.
We, the village children
Equipped with pots half dozen,
Bamboo sticks and pitchers
Bare foot and half bare torso
Amidst drizzling downpour
Wading through knee deep water
Venture to the inundated paddy lands
Adjoining our native habitation.
The previous day when dusk fell
Putting in the pots the smashed snails
Tying paddy stems lightly around pots
Each one marking their own spots
Invite country crabs around
With smell and splashing errand.
And when the ripples calm down
The preys climb upto the crown
To land inside the trapping pots
To be next day's prized catch.
The village girls and boys together
No worries of darkness or the gender
Dubuli nani is the smart queen
Brings all crabs full of pitcher.
Bhadrav is the breeding period
The tender eggs grow in number
Delicious, much in demand
Khetiree*-no value, but Madhua* commands.
Dr. Mohanty used to buy all
But Khetiree? not at all
One ganda#, charana is price
And our ganda fetched a shera^ of rice.
Glossary
*Madhua- local name for dark black Variety of crabs
Khetiree- white colour small size crabs
# Ganda (old system of counting in pairs) -pair of four (4 in number)
Charana(4 ana) old system of Rupees-16 ana make one rupee.
^ one Shera is equivalent to one Kg.
* Dubuli nani- name of a village girl, Queen of Crab catching
Dr. Mohanty- a local doctor(Dr Mahendra Mohanty of Mouda village)
Liked the use of local words in this poem, it's a marvelous poem.
Beautiful Memories! ! ! ! ! Beautifully Painted! ! ! ! Thank You Ever So Much For Sharing This! ! ! ! ! Ever Ever So Very Many 10S! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! +++++
thank you dear Rebecca. the childhhod memories are so much enthralling to reminiscent that even the times of misseries distant past becomes most enjoyable tomes of ones life latter.your appreciation is an encouragement.
very nice and vivid retrieval of distant memory that had both romantic and economic livelihood base.
very nice and viviv retrieval of distant memory that had both romantic and economic livelihood base.
thank you poet.though livelihood of the rural folks prima facie seems tough and struggling, the truthfulness they learn through these daily activities and the fruits of labour they earn leave linger imprints in their personal attributes. thank you for appreciating the poem.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/9/2025 1:58:34 PM # 1.0.0
A beautiful write with scientific temper......Thanks for sharing, , , , ,10