A Grain of Rice
Outside, the sun displayed its prowess
Over the petty organisms called life
As if to burn the coolest of minds;
And Draupadi was burning too
With frustration, with anguish:
No food for the holy guests
For Rishi Agastya was no ordinary being –
He could gobble up the entire world
And drink the ocean dry;
To treat him and his gang!
Even death seemed easier to tackle.
Jubilation in the guest camp
And dirge of sorrow for Draupadi,
Tears dried down her cheeks
Leaving a trail of emotional burst
She hoped to avert the critical epoch:
A knock was heard, once … thrice,
Counting her heart beats she gobbled up
Capsules of air-filled saliva,
And advanced towards the door,
Towards her fate …
A divine force pulled her in,
Krishna, her ‘Sakha’ stood smiling:
A hungry ‘Sakha’ demanded food, much to her annoyance,
A hungry ‘Sakha’ forced himself
Into the kitchen and found –
A single grain of rice …
The smiling ‘Sakha’ consumed it
For the whole mankind
Empty stomachs of the universe were filled
And Rishi Agastya’s too
Without eating a morsel
The knowing ‘Sakha’ saved Draupadi from humiliation
A grain of rice saved her fate …
Hour 15