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The Gamble

by M. Mohankumar 

For Indian farmers, the monsoons are everything. Mohankumar’s poem tells the story of a farmer who waits hopefully for the rains to arrive and turn his fortune around.

It was a gamble on the monsoon. Two crops
had failed, one after the other. But how could
he give it up, his only source of income?

The field lay parched under the blazing sun.
And then, late one evening, a cool wind blew,
bringing a scatter of rain. Next morning,

he ploughed the field with renewed hopes,
and waited. And when the monsoon broke,
sowed the last seeds of his dwindled fortune.

The smiling lush-green field brought cheer
to his heart. And then the clouds floated away;
and from a sterile sky the sun beat down,

scorching the earth. He sat scanning the sky
day after day, saw the plants wither, the grain
turning into chaff. And one evening, as the sun

dipped down the horizon, he struck a match
with trembling hands and threw it into the field,
and walked away to nowhere in particular.

Picture from https://www.flickr.com/photos/kinshukkashyap/

Mohankumar has published seven volumes of poetry in English. His poems have appeared in almost all reputed literary magazines in print in India. His first collection of short stories in English, ‘The Turning Point and Other Stories’ has been published by Authorspress, Delhi. Mohankumar retired as Chief secretary to Government of Kerala. 
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