Hydraotes, a Poem

By Asim Khan 

Met a character from 1947
Only six at that time,
To recite his tale
Story of his sacrifice
Lost he all
His mother and objects of play
As they travelled
Through days of migration
To the river hydraotes
The river of many names
From Greek to Vedic times

Stands there he now,
In the land of pure
To look back
At the purpose and
Of sacrifices – him
And of his ancestors
Of what they left
In their deaths
As they travelled
For vision and for home
With the promise

Then comes the separation
From what remained in his life
For years he begged,
Not out of choice but
Through subjugation
Forced upon him
Cost of separation
No regrets he says
As years went past

One day he returned
To see what was left
Of him and his world
The final reunion
More years went past
As life brought its pearls
Happiness at times and pain
No regret he says, I am at peace

Now an old man,
Through thick and thin
Of those years behind him
Hears he those who doubt
To what happened and how
Dry now this Hydraotes,
From its last fall,
Not much left in him
Only the old promise
As they become one
Six year old sky and Hydraotes!

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