I am not a beef eater
I am only a leaf eater
I don't consider the cow bovine
I consider it something divine
I respect the holy cow
Before it I bend and bow
I have taken a sort of a vow
I don't know why and how
I am not a beef eater
I am only a leaf eater
Once the cow gets dry
Why do you make it cry?
You make it look very bony
And weak thin and puny
Why make it eat rags and paper
If you are a really caring keeper?
I am not a beef eater
I am only a leaf eater
Why allow it to loiter and roam
Without proper shelter or a home?
Why do you milk it to the last drop
And allow its calf to live on slop?
Why not give it a better health
Without using it to make some wealth
I am not a beef eater
I am only a leaf eater
Hand it not to slaughterwala;
If you can, put it in a goshala
Treat the cow as your asset
Don't allow it to sweat and fret
Allow it to die a decent death
Before putting it under mother earth
I am not a beef eater
I am only a leaf eater
Whether it is a holy cow
Or a sheep goat or sow
I am not for any killing
Be it so , if God willing
Ahimsa is my main creed
An ideal that is noble indeed
I am not a beef eater
I am only a leaf eater
Some may curse me for my view
But i am sure they are only few
I am an unprejudiced sectarian
Believing in being a vegetarian
I value every life on earth as holy
Though you may not agree with me wholly
I am not a beef eater
I am only a leaf eater
Chennai under deluge
Has driven many to seek refuge
What exactly is the reason?
Is it due to an abnormal season?
Nature's fury and the El Nino's monstrosity
Resulting in a rainfall of unprecedented intensity
Washing away the huts with men and cattle in its ferocity
Creating conditions of extreme adversity
adding to the road's convexity and concavity
Forming at every stretch of it a whopping cavity
Aided by choked drains and poor connectivity
With sewers surcharging due to inadequate capacity
All roads ripping open due to inferior quality
And growing traffic density and its complicity
With all round darkness for want of electricity
Water gushing into all the houses in the vicinity
Reptiles entering houses uninvited with curiosity
Areas under waist deep water, flowing with zero velocity
Marooned well-to-dos suffering Ironically from food and water scarcity
Affecting everyone's day to day mobility and activity
Causing increased tension, trepidation and anxiety
This is what is the present condition of Chennai city,
A city earmarked in future to grow into a smart city
At the same time, I'll be failing in my duty
If I fail to see the blooming beauty
Of the hearts of those who showed their generosity
And their smartness and sagacity
Unmindful of the risk to their own safety
Coming forward to help the struggling humanity
And saving them at the crucial hour from a near total calamity
Providing food, water and shelter, life's necessity
I thank all those good hearts for their vivacity
And their sense of humanity and liberality with all my sincerity
***************
Lakes and ponds are parched
The land all over gets scorched
Buildings come up in lake beds
And on banks and watersheds
Natural flow of water gets obstructed
Many en route blocks are constructed
These housing projects and colonies
Supporting several large and small families
During rains get inundated under the impounded water
Making it a very serious and sensitive matter
Many lives are getting washed away
Making life in the area miserable and grey
Water remains stagnant for long all around
the area becoming a fertile breeding ground
For all diseases that are water borne
Due to rules that are breached with scorn
Chennai terrain in general being plain
It is a challenge to design its drain
People shouldn't use it to discharge sewage and dump garbage
causing serious problems including blockage and damage
Some areas lie below Mean Sea Level
Making surrounding water level rise and swell
The authorities allow the colonies to mushroom
And the public become victims during severe storm
encroachments should at any cost be stopped
Housing proposal in water bodies should be dropped
If the encroachers refuse to vacate and go to court
To thwart the attempt and to hold their fort
the court should not offer them stay
And not permit them to have their way
The poor should be provided some safe shelter
And during every storm not be made to run helter skelter.
*******************
வெள்ளம் வந்தது
உள்ளம் உயர்ந்தது
வெள்ளம் வடிந்தது
உள்ளம் வடிந்தது
Sir,Chennai under deluge
Has driven many to seek refuge
What exactly is the reason?
Is it due to an abnormal season?
Nature's fury and the El Nino's monstrosity
Resulting in a rainfall of unprecedented intensity
Washing away the huts with men and cattle in its ferocity
Creating conditions of extreme adversity
adding to the road's convexity and concavity
Forming at every stretch of it a whopping cavity
Aided by choked drains and poor connectivity
With sewers surcharging due to inadequate capacity
All roads ripping open due to inferior quality
And growing traffic density and its complicity
With all round darkness for want of electricity
Water gushing into all the houses in the vicinity
Reptiles entering houses uninvited with curiosity
Areas under waist deep water, flowing with zero velocity
Marooned well-to-dos suffering Ironically from food and water scarcity
Affecting everyone's day to day mobility and activity
Causing increased tension, trepidation and anxiety
This is what is the present condition of Chennai city,
A city earmarked in future to grow into a smart city
At the same time, I'll be failing in my duty
If I fail to see the blooming beauty
Of the hearts of those who showed their generosity
And their smartness and sagacity
Unmindful of the risk to their own safety
Coming forward to help the struggling humanity
And saving them at the crucial hour from a near total calamity
Providing food, water and shelter, life's necessity
I thank all those good hearts for their vivacity
And their sense of humanity and liberality with all my sincerity
***************
Thank you madam for your good comments. I have been writing prosaic type of verses ( வசன கவிதை) in facebook for the past four years. Besides verses, i have been writing jokes, short stories and plays in Tamil and posting comments in The Hindu, Times of India, Deccan Chronicle and Thuglak (துக்ளக்).My book சிரி நானூறு, a book containing 400 jokes in Tamil was published last year. To get a wider reach, I have entered this forum, where I feei I can share with others their as wll as my ideas.
Theoretically however great an expert you are,
Based on that knowledge alone, you cannot drive a car