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When a friend urged Dr K Saji to post a few lines of poetry everyday in a Whatsapp group, little did he know that he would end up penning a poem that would go viral and touch the hearts of all those who heard it in the voice of singer Rajesh Raman.
“I wrote this poem last year,” says Dr Saji, a 45-year old homeopathic doctor from Calicut, Kerala. “A few lines in the morning, a few in the evening, while driving to and from work.” One would think that the depth of mind needed to pen beautiful and empathetic lines comes from solitude, but Dr Saji’s poem—written while actually living the daily mundanities of life—tells us that it is possible to keep one’s creative side alive despite the many distractions life throws at us.
“Drawing, painting and poetry have always been my passion,” says Dr Saji, adding that after having written poems in college, he turned to other hobbies like documenting the life cycle of butterflies. “I got busy with my profession too, but I feel if one really wants to pursue a passion, he will regardless of how busy he is.”
We reproduce here Dr Saji’s tender poem (translated with consent) that tells young children everywhere to grow up good.
Who Should I Grow To Be?
Be whoever you want to be.
Be the cool breeze that soothes a wilting flower in sweltering heat
or water drops that wet the throat of a dying being
Be the strength of the lone man fighting many perils
or the rain that floods a parched earth, filling its wounds and cuts
Be the raintree that lends its shade to a weary traveller
or the shield that guards a child from bad weather
Be the lighthouse that guides a ship lost at sea
or mother to a child pining for his family
Be a boon to one that has lost faith in life or
the morsel of rice that feeds a hungry man
Be the warmth that guards the souls of the old
or a brother to the distressed woman trying to get home
Be the humility seen in a student’s bow
or the steadfast shadow that bears a sibling’s sorrow
Be a good son to those who raised you
Little one
By staying within their loving reach.
Be whoever you want to be.
(Translated by Susheela Menon. The Malayalam version of this poem can be found here.)
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Photo: Mahin Nair