THE CITY IN DELUGE

Congested city 

Slum Area

 

 











                         1)     The city gained much fame for her glorious past
                                  The city for her monumental grandeur vast
                                  For her clear lakes, green parks and coastal strand
                                  Affluent with huge malls and restaurants grand
                                  The city proud of her many firms and commerce abroad
                                  Like lifeless machines men rushed and struggled hard.
                                                                .

                        2)      Spurred by development the city grew by leaps and bounds
                                 Ambition devoured every inch of ground              
                                 Sparing no lake or park wherever found
                                 Even temples lost their hereditary ground
                                 The lanes grew wild like poisonous weeds
                                 Uncontrollable like human greed.
 

Industrial Pollution

Dried up River

                       3)         The lakes displaced by residential flats
                                   The fields converted to commercial plots
                                   The dense green trees in thousands lost
                                   To build highways at fabulous cost
                                   Deprived of vast surrounding space
                                   Old monuments seen in their declining days.

                       4)        The city untamed like a forest spread
                                   Flouting all rules with no sense of dread
                                   With slums and gutters in spaces between
                                   The city lost her natural splendor and sheen
                                   Pledging her purity for material wealth
                                   Gripped in fangs of pollution, a gradual death.

Flooded Streets No.2

Flooded Streets No.1

   



                   



                                                                                           

Saviors of flood victims

Congrats ! Volunteers !

         

                  
     



               

                    5)           Caught in the continuous stormy blast
                                   The city shook like a ship in tempest caught
                                   For days and days floods rose like raging hell
                                   Neck-deep in waters houses fell
                                   The lakes leapt out of their constricted bounds
                                    Highways became lakes with no trace of ground.

                       6)         With all their household washed away
                                    People spent days with dreadful dismay
                                    Surrounded by water, yet not fit to drink
                                    Sans food and clothes, too dazed to think
                                    The city wore a deserted, dreary sight
                                    The authorities stood helpless, a pitiful plight.

                      7)           All shops shuttered, banks closed and power cut
                                    No means of transport and no one to protect
                                    Even rich folk levelled down to common lot
                                    Amidst a deluge of waters caught
                                    Looked up to the sky with hungry eyes
                                   To grab food packets air-dropped from skies.

                      8)          The law of jungle prevailed around and everywhere
                                   The thieves looted and none to care
                                   The selfish traders hiked prices sky-high
                                   Beyond the reach of poor and no supply
                                   Is this the goal of thriving cities great ?
                                   Built without vision and planning, a sordid state !
                                                                                                                                 
                       9)       Dirt covered city with tons of slush
                                 All things despoiled by stormy gush
                                 Who can compensate their losses huge ?
                                 A shocking disaster left by this deluge
                                 Yet charity came to rescue with humane touch
                                 Wiped tears and helped the sufferers much.

Green gardens and lakes

Blue hills and rivers

 
           






                    10)        Let us give space to resources of Nature
                                 On them depends our existence and future
                                 Let us fill our cities with trees and gardens green
                                 Let us save water and our lakes serene
                                 Let us curb pollution from every side
                                 Our future life only we have to decide.

                                     ************************
                             
   Note :  This poem ends on a note of warning to our prospering cities which overlook deliberately the dire consequences of  overindustrialization, overurbanization, and over-consumption of natural resources. This indiscriminate use and wastage of natural resources usher in a very dreadful state of human life in future where people have to die like dinosaurs due to lack or shortage of basic things like pure water, pure air and unadulterated food. Pollution and over-consumption are the twin evils of modern life. In the name of luxurious life we are pledging precious Nature to our selfish and short-sighted goals. A day will not be far off when Nature will boomerang on our disorderly ways and make us suffer for what we have done in a thoughtless and undisciplined manner. So let us at least curb our evil tendencies and contribute our mite to control pollution and develop proper risk and disaster- management strategies to face the perils in future. We should leave ample space for trees, lakes,parks,and historical monuments and temples to exist without being polluted. We should maintain proper roads and drainage system. We should reduce use of artificial products and chemicals.  Simple life in harmony with Nature is the only suitable solution for our modern city life.

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  4th January, 2016                                                                                Somaseshu Gutala