Project Climate Wall

High in the sky,

A quiet spectator as I am

Shedding tears at times

Observing, surveying the changes

Taking place in the critical

And harsh

In the lush forests of the

Sunderbans

Sundaris sticking out their roots

Like pin pricks

The black stripped king

Prowling away without fear

Oblivious to the fire

Blazing in his kingdom

The monsters with guns

Ignorant of the benefits provided

To them by the forest

High in the sky, I observe all this

Shedding tears asking myself

“WHAT CAN I DO?”

The monsters destroying the greenery

Oblivious to the fact that

They are killing themselves

And high in the sky

I observe and shed tears thinking

What will happen to this

So called ‘Modernisation’ 

Oh Sunderbans! Your beauty is unmatched.

You are fairer than the Earth’s fairest flowers,

You shine brighter than a thousand stars in the sky,

Your seas are whiter than a thousand dives over the Nile,

Your greenery of dark shades with light hues light the dark of the night.

You stand as a donor to humankind.

Granting fruits, leaves and flowers like no one ever can.

You act as a saviour in fiery thunderstorms ,

Protecting life without thinking twice.

You protect life, humankind, plants and animals alike.

You don’t discriminate but we do.

We shameless humans think for ourselves but

You, think for all, the epitome of humility and wisdom,

We cut your trees with cruel deeds,

But you, you always come to our heed.

Oh Sunderbans! Forgive us.

For the sins of our existence,

For the cruelties of our kind

Today, this tainted day, I write this ode,

In forgiveness, to you.

The delightful derby you talk about just looks as good here

But, Oh my dear friend!

I don’t need to picture this

For I have a box emitting a light of entertainment but lets

Think! A flood,

A blue-brown creature!

Running through my village

Cleansing us with its feature

Covering every mileage!

Think! Moving fast

As fast as a flash

Devouring everything 

But wait! Maybe its clearing everything

Think! Very frequent,

As frequent as our naggings

Coming with a flash

Having muddy water

And now its actually clearing everything

But then I realise

I am sitting at home

Feeling sad about the floods

Feeling sad about the Sundarbans

But feeling happy that

I am not in the Sundarbans

And finally turning on the AC….

And here I come, like I do every year

            except each year, my power. It grows, somehow.

      I never did mean for this, for any of this pain, old friend!

Surprising. I know.

It is in my nature, to hurl through you like a train.

To break what you fix, and mend and shape.

To look at you knowing I will be your doom. 

To be the one who sings this tune

     How awful. I know.

My green body has grown familiar with this tragedy
Cut me, break me, destroy me.
it ends the same way. 

All I did was hold on to the people I knew.
Their songs I knew. Their dances I knew

     They know me too. Achingly familiar with my bark,
my roots my leaves- me
 

My pride is bent now, old friend.

Our friendship tainted now, old friend.

My words cut off now, old friend.

Now, I kneel before you, asking for help.
Help. Please, God, help.

A young boy came up to me

He asked, could I be a tree

I'd love to grow up so strong

And have branches growing long 

He said,

 I'd give fruits and flowers 

And enjoy midnight showers

Stand as tall as the towers

Grow so very much

 I'd stand in the mangroves

Sunderban as my home

 I'd see and wave to people

 That come to my land to roam

They'd plant me little siblings

Ones who'd grow just as tall

They'd come with their hearts full

And leave that love with us all

 The power lies with you 

And the youth will bring the change

 Have faith and you'll know what to do 

Follow the path till it's no longer strange

I looked at the boy 

And a tear slipped from my eye

 I felt the truth in his words 

So beautiful it made me cry

At the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta

The Sundarbans,

The home of the roots above water.

Where the Royal Bengal tigers hunt.

The Sundarbans,

Mesmerizing canopies,

With the striped Royal Bengals

And mangrove trees.

The tree, the creatures

Need freshwater to grow healthy

But alas! The sea water has crept in,

To make the water salty.

The Farakka Barrage

Makes the Ganga water flow another way

Causing the saline water amounts to increase

As the salt water penetrates.

The forest’s life cannot die out

It’s a jem, a jewel

It’s too precious

For a farewell.

To protect our ecosystem

The forest is supplied with water.

For now, it’s stable

But for how much longer?