Smt Kunjamma Wd/o Late Sep Joseph

Cheques, neatly printed, issued in favour of

Smt Kunjamma Wd/o Late Sepoy Joseph

Smt Nalini Pavithran Wd/o Late Sepoy Pavithran

Smt Chandramathy Wd/o of Late Swr Gopalan  and so on and so forth

Cheques of the Army Welfare Board,

Doles, for the survivors.

Scrawling my signature over them, ticking, rapidly glancing

Back and forth at the PC and cheques

At the amounts, dates, and other details

I flip through the leaves

Cursing inwardly at the mounting work

And my aching eyes and having

To fix a glassy smile on my face – suddenly - 

Before my eyes appear the mountains, the deserts

The gullies and ravines

I feel the numbing cold of the snows

And the searing heat of the sands

I see blood and gore and hear

The booming of cannons

And the sharp barking of rifles

And men shattered and blown to smithereens

I see Joseph and Pavithran and Gopalan.

I slow down the speed of my scrawl, pause

And consign the cheques gently into the basket.

**********  Balachandran V, Alappuzha, 23.11.2011