'Auto' Engineering - The Marma Way

EVERY DROP COUNTS

I'm a drop, off the glacier at Gaumukh
I'm a drop that baptizes your child
I'm the drop that washes away your iniquities

I'm a drop that carries your ashes away

I'm a drop of sorrow when losing a loved one
I'm a drop of patriotism when India wins
I'm a drop of gratitude for a slain martyr
I’m a drop of encouragement for a champion.

I'm a drop of sweat on your brow
I'm a drop that quenches your thirst
I’m a drop which purifies the family idol
I’m a drop you spit at those you hate
‘Coz they’re a different colour, creed or community.

I'm a drop for the abused, violated and molested
That makes breaking news
I'm a crocodile tear for public consumption.

I'm a drop of aqua minerale you waste 'coz you’re rich

I'm a drop at the village tap that families fight over

I'm a drop you relieve at the public loo
I’m a drop that washes your car, waters your garden
Then goes down the gutter ‘coz you won’t harvest.

I’m a drop on parched earth after a scorching summer
I'm a drop that stops a farmer suicide
I'm a drop in every flood that ravages village, town and city

I'm a drop they’ve dammed for greater prosperity.

I'm a drop in every talab, pukur, kere and eri

I'm a drop in every river north to south

From Ganga to Kaveri

Flowing out to sea on west and east

Burdened with your faeces, your sins, your ashes,

Your urban waste, your toxic chemicals.

Through pipes and taps, sewers and rivers

All us drops most toxic, few clean and a lot of in between,

Of every colour, hue and odour
Head out to bay and sea, then further south

When they call us the Indian Ocean.

Our origins matter little truth be told
But this must ne’er be forgotten….
Together, as Ocean we’re a power to behold.
What joy it is, to bring joy to a billion faces
As monsoon on an annual basis!

Every now and then though, there is growing chatter
That us drops count for nothing…we really don’t matter.
Such occasions demand flexing of watery muscle
‘Coz we ain’t playing dead when it comes to hustle.

You take us for granted; we’ll hurt your economy
The name of the game is, Let’s Play Tsunami!


- ©2018 Ranjan Kamath