A Father’s Letter to His Daughter

Durga Rai ‘Chamling’

Dear Daughter,
You are on the wall of Facebook today
Whatsapp status
In many places on social media
You pasted my picture.
I look so good
That’s really your mother
In that white shirt she brought.
She cut your throat and brought it
That white shirt
That shirt is exactly eight years younger than you.
After you have been vaccinated for ten years
I have kept it with secret in box.

The youngest of the upper house showed you
My picture posted on social media
Comments, many likes have come
The one you like is my picture or your beauty
To my destiny or to your destiny.
You made me very famous
You have shown the world this life of mine.

Probably by looking at the same picture
Today the sky is also dark.
Maybe your mother remembered from the sky.
In moon (June), tears flowed in the wind
Big dream my big person like you
To see a strong person
My unfulfilled life, one-sided love
You left one side and went to another house.
The knot of the mind flowed through the straw
There was a storm in the dream.

There is a dispute at home over the estate border
The mind becomes bored of sharecropping
Your sister-in-law has been looking for an old age home for a long time
This life has become a burden to itself.

This is what you remember on social media on Father’s Day
Blessed am I, your father
The rest of my life to you
Good luck!

                                                                                    
[Mr. Rai is a poet from Dooars, India]