When I am Dead, Do Not Remember Me Please
K. Padmakumar *
My fellow citizens and countrymen!
When I am dead
Do not remember me, please.
You did more than
I could do.
My concern for you is like a droplet
And yours like a sea of love.
Spending all the hot summer afternoon
Chatting away with friends
What will I do to acknowledge my debtv
of gratitude for you?
With the coming of the spring season
When the air over the country roads
are filled with the scent of flowers
Rambling along with happiness in full bloom
What will I do to acknowledge my debt
of gratitude for you?
On social occasions
Playing games with friends
In community centres,
Kicking balls made of sand
On the riverbank
Forget I will not
Forget I will not
Yes, forget I will never.
With the first flush of youth
Flirtation with the romance of love riddles
In the virgin garden of life
And sharing joys and sorrows
What will I do to acknowledge my debt
of gratitude for you?
The people of this locality
The people of this country
It is they who should be gazed at
with pure adoration.
Here we were born
And together we grew up
There is no end to repaying their concern for me
There is no end
There is no end
Yes, there is no end.
Today also we are going walking
Along this cold winter road
And what will I do to acknowledge my debt
of gratitude for you.
(Translated from my late father's
'Eina Shiraga Ningshingbiganu' by K. Radhakumar)
* Poem written by K. Padmakumar which was published at Hueiyen Lanpao (English Edition)
This poem was webcasted on November 16 2012.
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