Writing down the names 
of the silence-breakers in the class, 
I got them lashed well; 
Never failed to put my hand on my mouth 
Wherever I saw the instruction ‘Keep Silence'; 
Learned to be disciplined on the admonition ‘don't make noise'; 
Heard many a time the talk ‘Chatterers and Patriotism'; 
Hung on the wall the pictures of those 
who ordered ‘hold your tongue and do work'; 
Practiced regularly special yoga for taming the tongue, 
And got habituated to vow of silence. 
Now my tongue owns the endurance of saying nothing 
On seeing or hearing anything. 
I haven't wasted even a single opportunity to escape 
With the adornment of silence. 
I live in total silence excelling the dumb 
Now life is perfectly happy. 
The fear of assaulting those with dissenting voices 
No longer affects me. 
The only discomfort is this: 
An uncooked piece of flesh lies across my mouth, 
Unable to spit out or swallow. 

Poem by Veerankutty mhfil