Dr. Amrinder’s poem, in two parts, reflects on India’s summer of 2024, describing it as the worst heatwave in memory, in the first part, exclusively for Different Truths.
Waves conjure a pretty image of
Foaming seas and sandy beaches
Lapping waters and cooling breeze
But the heat wave of 2024
The worst in living memory yet
It was a different thing altogether.
The searing, scorching, summer sun
Lit forest fires, burnt down crops
Dried rivers, lakes, wells, and ponds
Parched throats and blistered feet
As the very surface of the earth fried.
The fiery orb even bleached the gold
Of the crown of the flowering laburnum
Faded petals fell like teardrops, to
Carpet the ground with their lost glory.
But the merciless sun was not done yet.
For he invited his ally, the dreaded ‘Loo’
To blow, with vicious force and fury
Across,
The vast breast of the northern plains
To whip up dust storms of such ferocity
That dirt, dry leaves, and twigs twirled
In a whirlwind romance, an insane dance.
Thirst and famine followed in its wake
To dig talons into hapless beings and,
Spread a scourge of desiccating death
That hot, hard-hitting Indian Summer.
(To be continued)
Picture design by Anumita Roy
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