Migration is their strength
anywhere and everywhere they go
husband, wife, and children
altogether they travel
with their handmade produce.
Those of whom found in South India
more particularly to the region of Tamilnadu
associate themselves with Lord Muruga
who dwells on the Palani Hills in the Western Ghats
as his consort Valli is from their tribe.
Their move with a bundle
clothes and some” thayuthus”
Gods figures in silver plated motifs
carry their children in a slung
hanging from their necks
The Kura vas ” speak a dialect
peculiar to their tribe and land
a mixture of Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit
all an “avial” as the famous side dish of the locals
” ellai saami vaa saami” they call the passers by
with an intent to read the palm and predict the future.
The genre excels in astrology as much
bring in substitutions like parrot and tarot
read your palm carefully
pronounce the prediction
in a song being a kind of a psalm
all sung with clarity and authenticity.
Education is not in their agenda
learning they do not care
it is the hearsay they have in memory
eat mostly raw food cooking being basic
a boil and a mix all too fast.
one man one wife is not in their cast
meet and mate the person you like
be their simple wedlock with all its riches
Their entrepreneurship is a skill dumbfounding
produce more, sell more, bother not about profit
could I call it a marginal economy?
the modern calculators and computers go begging
as they make quick calculations
add, subtract, multiply and divide they do
with no pencil or paper all done in their mind.
Nature is their mother
the place under the big tree is their home.
the river bed is their washroom
the open space is their play area
rain or shine they live like that
aligned to nature as much as they can.
Meenas Poems 