The House in Pudukkottai That Woke Up at 5AM

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By 5AM, the house in Pudukkottai was already awake. The old tape recorder would be blaring Pithukuli Murugados songs somewhere inside, and above everything else you could hear the steady creak of the wooden swing moving back and forth. My athai paati — my grandfather’s sister — would often be on that swing, singing “Gopala Krishna Swamy Gokulathiley,” a soft Krishna lullaby . She had been widowed young and lived the rest of her life in that house, and to me she always felt like someone straight out of an RK Narayan story. For us, summer meant Pudukkottai and Gobichettipalayam. A couple of days after the final exam, we would take the overnight Trichy Express from Bangalore, then a bus onward, and by the next morning we would be inside that long, bustling house full of cousins, relatives, and noise. Athai Paati with the kids on the swing The house itself stretched from one street to another, a lon...
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She...

A beautiful sunny day in the offing,
How could I not enter the forests,
She tagged along with me slowly,
A comfort to have her with me

The days gradually progressed,
I found not a soul in sight,
It was a sojourn always tricky,
But there she was to keep me chirpy

Tough to find your way through
Creepy creepers all over you,
I could sense the trickles of blood,
She was there to keep me good

Berries and cherries in my belly,
Nothing else to gloat over fully,
She was the perfect cushion
For the rest of my meal

A moment of tiredness fell,
I pushed along heavily,
Again, I fell back to her,
She was there to fill the void

A long time later, I realised,
She was slowly leaving me,
The sick feeling was getting to me,
Now, it was just a matter of time

Finally, I was really alone,
I was feeling the heat,
It was the point of agony,
How I wish there was more water!

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 20, 2007 at 4:54 PM

    Water....this reminds of a line someone wrote when I was in school about floods--"Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Praveen KrishnanJuly 20, 2007 at 8:42 PM

    Anonymous: True, any trek, and all I think about is water!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. david mcmahonJuly 21, 2007 at 6:34 AM

    A post that anyone and everyone can identify with.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Praveen KrishnanJuly 21, 2007 at 9:23 PM

    Thanks David :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. PavanJuly 21, 2007 at 9:47 PM

    Interesting!
    That's a wonderful word. It leaves the reader thinking what he wants to hear. Yes, but surely something one can relate to :-) Water----more so after today for you anyway.....!

    ReplyDelete
  6. ShubhikaJuly 21, 2007 at 9:56 PM

    Excellent!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Praveen KrishnanJuly 21, 2007 at 9:58 PM

    Pavan: Water, water and water!!! Ooooooh man :-) Unforgettable :-)

    Shubhika: Thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2009 at 1:36 AM

    Very nice you can visit my website for more collections

    ReplyDelete

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