Gamble and Pray

a poem by Premchand Gandhi

He came in and went out with property papers
wife asked, what are you taking away
he didn’t reply
children asked for the daily bread
he did not speak up
just kicked away the youngest daughter and walked away.

The children asked for the meal to their mom
she said in deep sorrow,
“now the God will give us the bread
come on my kids
the river which gives us the water
we will search for the bread in it’s water.

Taking two gals and a boy
the mother went to the river
she tied up all the kids one by one
and then herself with a rope.

At last she called all the Gods and Goddesses
along with her forefathers
and jumped in to the river with all the kids
Some waves were shaking over the river for a while
and all the hungry stomachs were full of water

Meanwhile, the father or husband
whichever he was
had lost his last move too
he couldn’t understand that how will he tell to the wife
that nothing is left with us now
how will he tell to the kids that
now we will have to live on hunger now

A lost gambler just think
and he was doing it
his thoughts were limited to the next move
about which he was thinking

When he came to know
about the drowning of his family
he couldn’t understand that
what has happened
when he understood the whole thing
he couldn’t do except weeping

He was weeping
like a true and honest gambler
the cries of a lady and three kids were mixed up with his cry
which came from the waves of the river
to his thirsty throat

Whenever a gambler cries by his soul
his weeping seems like a divine pray
so seriously he sings the pray
as he doesn’t listen to it
however the pray is honest and true

Truthness of a pray is in singing with the heart
the listener of his own prayer
doesn’t act upon it
so the gambler was crying with his soul

The river and the trees
heard his cries too
the trees told it to the birds
the birds went in between the sky
and tried to tell the pray to almighty God

The God listened to it carefully with deep sorrow
then he declared
that the gambling shouldn’t be illegal
the government listened to it
and then the officials and politicians created
the legal methods of gambling
and banned all the prayers of gambling