Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra
(Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra ji is a well-known author. She has been honoured with many international/national/ regional level awards. We are extremely thankful to Ms. Neelam ji for permitting us to share her excellent poems with our readers. We will be sharing her poems on every Thursday. Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra ji is an Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Indian Railways, Pune Division. Her beloved genre is poetry. Today we present her poem “ Eklavya, a Nishadh?”. )
☆ Weekly column ☆ Poetic World of Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra # 44 ☆
☆ Eklavya, a Nishadh? ☆
In the dark corners of the forest
Eklavya, a young man was raised,
Archery was his heart’s call
And since Drona was, for the skill praised-
To Drona, approached Eklavya to his blessings seek
“Please teach me!” was his earnest request.
“Teach yourself if you have in me faith,”
Said Drona, slightly in jest.
Eklavya’s passion was true
Drona’s words, seriously he took
Installing Drona’s effigy
Eklavya practices, while Drona looked!
Pandavas with Drona, on an expedition
And their hound barked and barked
Seeing the situation thus, Eklavya
Took his bow and arrows hit the mark.
The hound’s mouth was gagged
With his jaws opened wide
He could bark no more thus
Arjuna, his surprise, could not hide.
“Isn’t someone a better archer than me?”
Arjuna, from his teacher enquired.
Drona decided to investigate the matter
“Who was it who had so correctly fired?”
Seeing his own effigy, shocked he was
Eklavya, with a bow, prostrated
“Who is your teacher?” Drona asked
“You, sire!” Eklavya stated.
The shrewd Drona, for a fee asked
The naïve Eklavya, agreed without hesitation
“Give me the thumb of your right hand,”
Said Drona with a cunning self-possession!
Eklavya, true to his word, obliged
Sliced his thumb, placed it on his feet
Some call Drona’s decision prudent
Some call it dharma’s defeat!
© Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra
Pune, Maharashtra
(All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission of the author.)
