AN INCIDENT THAT DISRUPTED MY DAILY ROUTINE - KAMALAKAR KADAVE's 'DINACHARIYA KEDISIDONDU GHATANE' ದಿನಚರಿಯ ಕೆಡಿಸಿದೊಂದು ಘಟನ'

Kannada original: DINACHARIYA KEDISIDONDU GHATANE 

ದಿನಚರಿಯ ಕೆಡಿಸಿದೊಂದು ಘಟನೆ 

Poet: Kamalakar Bhat Kadave

English translation: S. Jayasrinivasa Rao

 

AN INCIDENT THAT DISRUPTED 

MY DAILY ROUTINE

 

Last night I heard someone scream 

Cool breeze had brought down the heat

inside the room 

I was reading an English newspaper

It was the time when even the dogs 

instead of panting would fall sleep 

Hundreds of insects buzzed 

around the street lamp

Dense  night 

 

All of a sudden, I heard someone scream

 

All through the day all kinds of bother

The income tax had cut a hole in my salary,

Postponed the plan to buy a bookshelf,

Consulted the ayurvedic doctor for indigestion,

Got the scooter’s mileage fixed 

Checked the share certificates that came in the mail,

Feeling drowsy after my meal

I was fluffing up my pillow 

for a full pleasurable sleep,

Under the streetlight flashed the sign 

showing the prices for the unsold flats 

in a new high-rise that had come up 

across the window 

The programme on Freedom 50 

on the TV was beginning to get boring

I started to think of taking a holiday 

And while thanking the Budget and the Sensex, 

I remembered the wedding invite for tomorrow

and felt happy

 

In the middle of the night I heard someone scream

 

*****