K Padmakumar
One day I was struck with amazement!
Nobody was with me – I was all alone.
The outskirts of the village looked distant,
The local residents
Going about their daily business
Looked small like children.
I could not take my eyes off
The rotala of the field in blossom
And the ground patterned with exotic blooms
Spread out beneath me.
The field was carpeted in colours
Of various flowers,
And the squares and the rectangles formed by ridges
Was inset with the flowers.
Though I was standing all alone
In the sea of beauty all around,
I felt I had a companion
And there was no aching void in my heart.
Some striped birds
Quite small in size
Surrounded me –
Blocking my path, following me closely behind.
The moment I stretched out my hands to catch one
It was forced to withdraw
But never had it flown away into the distance.
I seemed so young, a mere boy
And was frightened.
What a strange behaviour!
The birds did not take me seriously.
I had been in a trance all along –
I stood transfixed.
And I saw pearls of new-laid eggs
At one corner of the field
In the heart of rotala-made cradle.
And all at once
A ray of thought
Flashed through my whole being
Shaking the inner and outer selves.
( Phairen is the name Manipuris give to the post harvest month just before the onset of the spring season. Translated from the original Manipuri poem Phairen Thada Iba By K. Radhakumar. )