We live in a house, simple and nice With a garden lined with crotons in rows Not so neatly trimmed or pruned as before And a lawn not always well manicured But abounding in plants with blooms of varied hue From shady corners, orchids peep They bring forth flowers in bunches and mass Only on certain seasons, not the year round. Then a visual treat to the eyes, indeed!
Trees big and small border our land Mango trees and jack fruit trees Coconut palms and guava trees Twining creepers with globular passion fruits Bushy plants of sweet and sour berries Rose apples, papayas and Chinese limes An epitome of country abundance!
In front of the house was once a stretch of fields Lush and fresh with paddy plants in June And in autumn, bent with arching sheaves of corn Green parakeets used to come from far To eat the grains ready to be reaped Having their fill they would fly westward in flocks Such scenes were a source of instant delight
But sad enough, those fields were gradually filled In place of paddy and other seasonal crops Industrial units, big and small have emerged By degrees, the quiet and coolness of the place That once soothed our frayed nerves are gone Now an exodus of men have landed here Laborers who have come from Northern states To eke out a living in a better clime Speaking languages, Bengali, Hindi and Tamil Leaving the area noisy with incessant chatter
Along the road that runs parallel to our house Now speeds past, motors in unbroken row Honking horns and raising a screen of smoky dust Spoiling the ambiance of our verdant setting And badly impairing the neat surroundings But with every change of scene and setting We, like nomads cannot change our stay or dwelling
Well acclimatized to all noise and commotion We now stick to our home, our humble haven And strive to create within an inner landscape Not polluted by the ravages of time or clime
Home is the sanctuary where we roost and rest A sweet dwelling, more than all mansions blest And it should be an abode of love where hearts embrace Every turn of life, grim or merry with no fuss but with grace
How sweet it is to dwell beneath this roof Our wedded lifeβs enduring loveβs living proof!