Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 1123 Sat. July 28, 2007  
   
Literature


Mothers Wade To Work
Shatadol Chakraborty

(translated by Farhad Ahmed)

The rains come.
The city's grand mansions wetted
into safe field-mice nests.
The silver-robed magician in his air-conditioned lair
has never been caught in the rain.
After the meeting the white car whisks him away
to his marble-and-glass palace
where 'water' means mineral water, cooler, geyser.

In America when it rains avenues are not water-logged
Rows of colourful umbrellas hoist a rainwater fair
And choruses rise in schools 'Rain, rain, come again...'

In Third World alleys rainwaters heave and toss
Mothers of tiny children wade to work
Fathers repair shacks, lean-tos, thatch roofs
The teastall boy is slapped for breaking a cup-

Yet, it rains, and boys and girls naked
Frolic in the mudslime with the gods.

Farhad Ahmed is a contributor to The Daily Star literature page.