From the Rubble, by Jaanu
[I]
A woman sits, a hammer with a wooden handle in hand, amidst the rubble of her broken house. She picks up one brick at a time, knocks the cement off it, cleaning it, and making a separate pile of cleaned bricks. The heat of the sun makes her sweat, and the sweat halts like small beads on her face. She stops from time to time, to wipe the sweat away, with the hem of her saree. Some beads trickle down to her lips, and her tongue drinks them. She turns her body and drinks water from a small vessel she has kept in the shade. Her lips are moistened.
A woman sits, a hammer with a wooden handle in hand, amidst the rubble of her broken house. She picks up one brick at a time, knocks the cement off it, cleaning it, and making a separate pile of cleaned bricks. The heat of the sun makes her sweat, and the sweat halts like small beads on her face. She stops from time to time, to wipe the sweat away, with the hem of her saree. Some beads trickle down to her lips, and her tongue drinks them. She turns her body and drinks water from a small vessel she has kept in the shade. Her lips are moistened.
[II]
The sun is setting, and it casts a warm red glow on Nangla. Kalaam makes small bundles of sticks. He puts them away carefully. He has gathered them from the rubble of his house, the entire day. They will come in use later, when he builds a new house.
[III]
The breaking of Nangla had stopped, but work continued. Early in the morning, labour from the MCD came in a truck which was painted light red. The driver parked the truck wherever he found place, and got off to rest. The labour placed a ladder from the lane onto the truck. The truck remained shut from behind. One by one, they moved from the truck to where houses had stood before, collecting the rubble. They would heap their metal vessels, coated with dust and cement, with the rubble, and go back to the truck, climb up the ladder, and unload the rubble into the truck. Two men stood inside, helping them unload.
Written on 04-04-2006
The sun is setting, and it casts a warm red glow on Nangla. Kalaam makes small bundles of sticks. He puts them away carefully. He has gathered them from the rubble of his house, the entire day. They will come in use later, when he builds a new house.
[III]
The breaking of Nangla had stopped, but work continued. Early in the morning, labour from the MCD came in a truck which was painted light red. The driver parked the truck wherever he found place, and got off to rest. The labour placed a ladder from the lane onto the truck. The truck remained shut from behind. One by one, they moved from the truck to where houses had stood before, collecting the rubble. They would heap their metal vessels, coated with dust and cement, with the rubble, and go back to the truck, climb up the ladder, and unload the rubble into the truck. Two men stood inside, helping them unload.
Written on 04-04-2006
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