Oh, Happy Days!
She was just sixteen…
Ready for marriage,
Her parents decided.
Oh, happy days!
Ramdass was a true-blue Telgu lad;
Tifrer sang at her wedding gamat;
All the village notables of Quartier Militaire
Attended the wedding feast.
Oh, happy days!
A year later, Dev was born;
Then came Raj, followed by
Nila, Swatee, Vimla, Devi, Santa
And a few years after her marriage
Gouna died giving birth to her 8th child.
Oh, happy days?
A beautiful life was wasted.
Mum Gouna,
In the mid 1930’s
You passed the Primary School Certificate
With MERIT.
You could have been
A school teacher, a nurse or a civil servant
BUT traditions decided otherwise.
Oh, happy days?
Dear Lord, we no more want Tragic Gounas.
Let us pray that today’s
Anushkas, Melanies and Nargises
Will succeed in wiping off Gouna’s tears.
Mum Gouna, Dev is now 76.
He still misses you
As much as the little boy of ten
Who followed your coffin to the graveyard.
29 June 2018
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