Our city of baked beans

 Our city of baked   beans

By

P.R.Ramachander

The Red  Gowda   went   for  hunting ,

In a forest near  his capital Magadhi,

In the  intense hunting  of wild animals,

The king   Gowda  lost his   way,

And got separated    from his army.

Suddenly  it became   extremely dark,

Poor   Gowda  though  he was a king ,

Was feeling  the pangs of hunger  great,

And he started   searching  for a place  to go,

Far , far away  in the pitch darkness  great,

The red Gowda saw   a dim light  of a lamp,

And rushed   he towards   the lamp ,

So that   he   could get something to eat.

Soon   after  a  walk with a great struggle,

Through the path   strewn  with thorns and stones,

He  reached a very small  hut  in that deep forest,

And there he saw     an old lady  preparing  food.

Red  gowda    suffering   due to hunger ,

Requested  that  old lady   for some  food,

And the old lady  smiled  and told ,

You look like  a king  and what can I give you,

Anything  said   Red Gowda anything that you have ,

And the old lady  gave him  a plate of boiled  beans ,

Which  in her language   was called  Bentha Kalu,

And Red Gowa  emptied the plate with great relish.

When it became  Morn  , Red Gowda  reached ,

Back his home   with a decision  that ,

He would build a  town in that forest ,

Mark with four towers  and call it Benthakalur

We are the luck ones   who live  in that city ,

Whose name changed   from Bentha kalur   to Bangalore,

Built by that  king  called Kempe  Gowda,

And     day in and day out  remember him with gratitude

The  good old majestic   became  Kempe Gowda   circle,

The air port that  we built we christened  by  his name ,

We erected   a statue   for him near our corporation office ,

WE built  a park in Koramangala andnamed after  his wife .

But no one  seems to remember  that poor old lady ,

Who gave  Bentha  Kalu   to her king Kempe Gowda,

And was the real cause   of the name  of our town,

Since possibly Kempe Gowda did not ask for her name