PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY

PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY

Who Am I?

No line will I ever toe.

To none do I anything owe.

My much-holed boat I row.

My string less violin I bow.

Stung by the thorn on the stem of the rose,

I adjust my broken spectacles on my nose.

I grope in the dark without a torch,

I let the heat my naked feet scorch.

The endless efforts to manage without things,

Continue despite the discomforts and stings.

I have lost count of what I need and what I don’t,

Of all that bothers me and what I’d do but won’t.

Sword less duels I seem to fight.

Wordless poetry I seem to write.

I Am Love …

Like a whiff of fresh air,

With tenderness and care,

I pervade the universe,

In ways many and diverse.

As in the air I float along,

My scent lingers for long.

I can often right a wrong,

And create bonds strong.

I resonate in heartbeats,

Performing many feats.

Lovers lose sense of all,

When in me, they fall.

I touch people in many ways,

For me, they race and chase.

Mine is an undeniable presence

That can be felt even in absence.

I light up lives and faces,

I am found in all places.

Many splendored am I,

For me folks live and die.

The Migrant Labourers

Yes, everyone calls us migrant labourers;

This is the only identity we have these days …

We’re trekking miles and miles to reach our home.

En route, we see media folks here and there roam

To get the “stories” of our experience gory,

For them, our plight is just another story!!!

They come in their air-conditioned vans,

Get our bytes and rush back with big plans

To air our “stories” to get TRPs on Primetime

By showing our faces covered in tears and grime.

For them, we are big “BREAKING NEWS”,

As our backs, legs and will too are breaking …

Why are we being branded as migrants???

We too are Indians working in another State!

Is the IT worker from Tamilnadu called

A migrant IT worker in Karnataka???

Is the bank employee from Uttar Pradesh

Called a migrant on transfer to Arunachal Pradesh?

Are the politicians in Delhi called migrant Netas???

Then why this designation of “migrant” just for us???

We faceless workers do not seem to belong anywhere;

For hard work and labour, we are needed everywhere!

(Moved by the plight of the migrant labourers travelling thousands of miles on foot to reach their home State during the current Covid-19 pandemic)

Never A Dull Moment!

It is always a crowded day,

With kids around,

Life is a bustling highway!

Be prepared for endless prattle,

With kids around,

Except nerves, all things rattle!

Toys and things lie scattered,

With kids around,

Orderliness least mattered!

With boundless energy they abound,

With kids around,

Home becomes a virtual playground!

They run amuck - hither and thither,

With kids around,

Our energy is at the end of its tether!

There is much prancing,

With kids around,

I too feel like dancing!

Life can never be boring,

With kids around,

Spirits keep only soaring!

There’s never a dull moment,

With kids around,

Who has the time to lament?!

Mr. Terror!

The man of the house was a terror;

Wouldn’t tolerate the slightest error.

At home, his presence

Kept everyone tense.

He’d shout at his kids, wife and mother

Over this, that and every other.

One day, he suddenly came home

Along with his friend named Som.

He ordered his wife to make some tea

And serve it with snacks two or three.

His wife and mother rushed to the kitchen,

Only to find all snacks eaten up by children.

They served water and quickly made some snacks,

Rummaging for ingredients through the kitchen racks.

When the time came to make some tea,

They noticed that the tea jar was empty!

However, over a cup and half of tea remained from morning’s left over,

That the wifey would just not dare to serve the guest or her Mr. Terror!

While wife went to serve a few plates full of snacks,

The mother put her brain through some real wracks

To resolve the issue that loomed before them next

Of serving two cups of tea - to her son and the guest!

She then herself carried a tray with two cups;

And gave one each to her son and the guest.

Any guesses, how she was able to manage,

To serve them each a cup of the beverage?

Well …

She also found half a cup of coffee

To which she mixed half a cup of tea,

And served the cup of tea to her son

And the other cup of cof-tea to his pal…

Her calculation worked well

That Som will never ever tell

That he was served cof-tea,

Knowing his pal’s temper fiery!

However, Som’s face was a sight to see,

As he was forced to take sips of cof-tea,

To keep his friend company,

As Mr. Terror enjoyed his tea!

PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY

PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY, a senior ex-banker and a former urban governance consultant, is currently the Hon. Literary Advisor, The Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA), and on the Advisory Panel of International Society for Intercultural Studies and Research (ISISAR), Kolkata. Paddy’s maiden poetry collection ‘P-En-Chants’ has been recognized as a Unique Record of Excellence by the India Book of Records. She has compiled and edited 6 international multilingual poetry anthologies, one of them ‘WWW – Women, Wit & Wisdom’ of women poets. The other five, ‘Amaravati Poetic Prism’ 2015 to 2019, have received world-wide recognition with the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions recognized by the prestigious Limca Book of Records published by Coca Cola India and the 2019 edition with 1303 poems in 125 languages by over 761 poets from 86 countries, yet again in Limca contention. An official Member of the World Nation Writers Union in Kazakhstan and a recipient of several awards and honours, Paddy is regularly invited to national and international literary events to read her poems. Her poems, articles and short stories, some of them prize-winners, have been published in various national and international anthologies, print journals and e-zines. Her poems have been translated into several languages.