The old Banyan Tree
In my village
Fell with a thundering noise.
People ran helter-shelter
many made a profit
And to many it saved
a month’s fuel
that was all.
The greatest Banyan tree
Of the country
The Mahatma
fell or rather was felled
it was 1948
that was not at all.
Till date
his burnt-up limbs
are used and reused as fuel
in all our politician’s
career
to keep alive their cooking flame
A proverb comes here :
“Dead or alive
An elephant is worth
A thousand gold sovereigns.”
