DRAUPADI - XLIV - 44

   

 Prafulla Kumar Mohanty's 

DRAUPADI - XLIV

Draupadi in elated hurry

moved from hall to hall

room to room

the Moya mystic thawed

her frozen emotions to lyrical joy

the terrazzo the water mirage

the glassy reflections of her beauty

the slippery smoothness of marble

imaging the  coiffured ceiling

gave her a new sense of herself

she is real, she is Draupadi.

 

The queen of Indraprastha

and after the grand Rajsuya

if time's unseen wings do not

flap up untoward absurdities

I shall be the Empress of Aryabarta.

This great land of Bharat

issuing grace in every grain,

every drop of water,

each whiff of air,

every atom of this elemental universe

in benediction for glory

of man's innate  virtues: I bow

to this earth and man's efforts

to turn the blessings into designs

of tribute to the Brahman.

 

Would the high throne be enough

to calm my nerves to rest

on my laurels and stop from shooting arrows

into the void created by my fullness?

No, my restive soul would spread

the new found wings to soar higher.

I shall wipe off human tears,

feed all the hungry,

spring love in every heart,

make human speech spawn

the language of amity and peace.

The human hand shall work hard

to make the earth green and gold:

but how, who will join me

who will give me the resources,

everyone, my husbands will keep me indoors

I don't have the strength to defy.

Oh this who what why how-

Pannchali sat down in despair

closed her eyes brooding,

away from the world whose scenario

she wanted to write in wishful fantasy

to swell her borrowed ego;

borrowed for its not what is native

to my own sense of being.

 

People will call me Empress

as Yudhistir's wife not for

my achievements which are none

yet what has Yudhistir done to earn

the crown of emperor,

his brothers came  back victorious

with the  yajna horse

subjugating thousands of kings.

Krishna my trickster Sakha

eliminated the most powerful

Jarasandh fearing whom he had

left Mathura for Dwarika when

Kamsa was killed in a chancy duel.

True they were evil, their despatch

was morally ordained to keep the good

safe but my Sakha never claimed

victory or any prize for himself:

Here Yudhistir gets renown and crown

without sacrifice or heroic valour.

But he is good apostle of moral purity

I share the throne by spousal right

If it is so, so be it, why fret about it?

 

But now is the moment to work

to be my honest self and strive

to involve people men and women

of flesh and blood emotions passions

to work in fields of diverse cerebrations

to produce more of everything

for domestic and foreign needs

to earn more and live better

in peace harmony and security.

As for my assignment I'm confident

no guest, animal, bird or beast

shall starve in our kingdom.

The appetite whetting flavour, taste

of our recipes will whirr all over

this great Bharat like memory fed

bees singing of our great culture.