Letter to My Son

You are still a lad, just learning how to stand
My poem, dear son, yet you can not understand
But I do write whatever my concern
About our family, one day you should learn

My grand parents of both sides
Were innocent and diligent farmers
Believed in god and hard work
Never waited for government or luck

Whole life they spent in plow
There was often cyclone or blow
Victims of nature and circumstances
Why couldn't they have better chances?

There was no school, nor hospital
Neither transportation nor canal
It was a big family, had only little money
With cattle and paddy, they lived happily


* * *

You are still a lad, just learning how to stand
My poem, dear son, yet you can not understand
But I do write whatever my concern
About our family, one day you should learn


My parents had basic education
Interested in welfare of the nation
The air filled with fight and frustration
Everywhere slogans and agitation

Finally our India got freedom
But it was not common man's kingdom
Situations were still the same!
Who could we blame?

It was the age of revolution
For better life, many wanted a solution
The young minds were filaments
They had steel ligaments

My father quit cultivation
Moved to another location
He started a new challenging life
With my mother, a traditional Hindu wife

My father chose business
It was a big success
He did many adventures
Could not guess future dangers!

The loss was terrible, our family in tremble!
It was so miserable, was life a gamble?
Though he mastered, the art of money making
He didn't know saving and wise investing

Did many charities, he had farmer blood
Done many mistakes, we struggled for food
The reality was painful, lessons were useful
Still glass was half full, wasn't life beautiful?

With a smile, everything my parents did accept
For them, nothing left. What else they kept?
Yet they had courage and commitment
Family care, their mission statement!


* * *

I got mustache and pimples, at an early age
Also got headache and troubles, had no tutelage
Problems and challenges, fuel for my abilities
Took family responsibilities, explored many possibilities

Society was my Open University
To understand human calamity
Exposed to many schools of thought
My knowledge, mostly self-taught

My parents loved me enough
To let me know rough and tough
I had seen the cruelty of human nature
Learned how to handle rupture and torture

I helped your mom to realize her strength
We respected each others wavelength
When god chooses our parents and relatives,
We choose our friends and interests

Entertainment is a wine, pleasure is a concubine
I have chosen a different line, to make my life divine
I am searching for the truth; my mind is full of youth
Heard a sacred whisper from goddess mouth

Human life has a purpose and meaning
Not only wealth creation, also we need philosophic thinking
Becoming better citizens, is our final destination
Our goal is universal love and self-realization


When your son is still a lad, who will be learning how to stand
Your poem, dear son, he need not understand
But you do write whatever your concern
About our family, one day he should learn