Usha Kishore
Harvest Song
(To Joy)
After the monsoons, it is harvest time -
Men and women gather in multitudes:
Men - with their chequered dhothis rolled up,
bronzed arms reflecting light, smiles flashing
and eyes feasting on the jewelled earth;
Women - with dark, flowing hair coiled up,
eyes lined with kohl, pan-red lips, jingling
bangles and tinkling anklets - the harvest
wind creeps up from behind, steals the colour
from their floral skirts and scatters it on
the western skies...
Scythes flash, heads of paddy roll down and
a song bursts forth in tumultuous flood -
It echoes across the threshing grounds, in
the sifting grain, in the blowing chaff and is
carried on the heads of flailing winds that
balance between the weight of grain and
re-sounding refrain -
It is then stored as silence in long, dark,
overflowing granaries...
A lone bird circles the shredded fields and
once again, the song flows out and hits the
skies, it lights up the clouds, thunders and
rains down as droplets of joy...
Huge vats of grain are blessed in the temple
courtyard - with sprinkling water, burning
camphor and chanting mantras; the fragrance
of incense nestles the air and the song is
then
summoned by beating drums, pealing bells
and ringing conch-shells...
Dowsed with the scent of oil lamps, all alone,
I stand, in the darkest corner of the temple.
palms folded, eyes closed, lips mumbling
a much-said prayer, while a trembling heart is
possessed by the spirit of song...
Pan - a leaf chewed by many Indians, along with a nut and other spices. This stains the lips red.
Page(s) 111
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