TEA PICKERS AND SALT AND CHILLY MAKERS
-
Sagar Mal Gupta (India)
The tea plants were
standing like warriors
with their razor
sharp leaves
after being drenched
in the rain water
They used their
stilettos to wound
those ladies who
approached them
to pluck leaves
fearlessly
causing irreparable
injury to their fingers
but their soul
remains untouched.
Accepting the warm,
friendly invitation
from the saltiest
sea water fields
Run of Kutch women
kept standing in the water
for hours touching
it lovingly and
converting it into
salt for human consumption
caring little for
the conversion of their
foot skin into the leathery lifeless lump
impervious even to
bonfire
but their soul did
not become lifeless.
The motherly red
color of red chilly fields
attracted Nasik
women
to pick, dry and
grind the chilly
into powdered form to
augment
the taste of Indian
curry
without caring for
the loss of their eye sight
in the scorching
bright sun light
and the burning skin
of the hands
like the thousands
of moths
that gather round
the lamp light
without caring
whether
they would live or
die
but their soul will
live.