Poem: Pain of hunger

In a corner of the hut, she was boiling water and salt
Her kids were hungry. Was it their fault?
It was not too long ago, her life had come to a halt

Her husband committed suicide to get rid of debt
She was trying to move on but doomed was her fate

But the old woman was not alone. There’re many others
Who saw drought swallowing their fathers, brothers

No food, no water — the earth cracked, only woes pouring
Cattle perished, babies crying and the pain soaring
But unmoved are their masters, they find it very boring

The pain of hunger is the worst pain to bear
But shame on those who cannot shed a tear

(Wrote while on way back from village Pandui in Banda, one of the seven perennially drought-hit districts of Bundelkhand region)