Red Earth And Pouring Rain

When I heard about it in 2001, I was really surprised that a tamil poem has found a place on the London Underground Poster Series. Years later, this poem was again in the news, Vikram Chandra had titled his novel based on this.

...I am wondering what the poet might have thought when he wrote it 2000 years ago. We don't even know his name. As was the custom, most poets in those times don't write their names on their poems. They rightfully thought that poetry and literature are for the masses. It has to be enjoyed freely. No questions of DRM or discussions about GPLv2 or GPLv3.

Literature really transcends boundaries of time, language and culture. I hope you would also enjoy this poem. To find more about poems on the underground, visit:

http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/index.htm


What she said?

Chempulapeyanirar. Translated by A.K. Ramanujan

What could my mother be
to yours?
What kin is my father
to yours anyway?
And how
Did you and I meet ever?
But in love
our hearts have mingled
as red earth and pouring rain