The stone that did not know how to cry

The stone   that did not know how to cry

By

P.R.Ramachander

(Based on the write up  posted by Mrs Vijaya  Sundar  in Tamil . Thanks to her  for posting the gem and thanks to whoever wrote it.)

My father did not know  how to cry,

Even when he worked like   an animal  for the family,

Even when he struggled  hard to  wipe off  the hunger from us,

He never cried  , blaming that  his life was bad, because he did know  how to cry.

Though carrying his wife in his mind and children on his shoulders,

Though carrying   all the responsibilities of  his family on his head,

Even when he was perplexed  of life   and  not knowing which way to go,

My father   did not know    how to cry,.

Realizing that his  family   would get shattered,

If he gets worried , he stood like a  rock,

And we thought   that  he was indeed a rock.

And we would attach ourselves to our mummy ,

And keep our distance from the stony pa  of ours,

But that   stone  never knew   how to cry.

WE would say that  the words that   he talked were few,

But when we are in  deep trouble due  to defeats in our  life,

WE would search   for the firm hands of that stone   for support ,

So that   we would be  stable  and be able to stand firm,

But that stone  never became unstable    and never cried.

Though he had has never hugged  and kissed us,

He  was the  one who stood  far far   away from us  ,

And getting drowned  in  his flood of emotions,

But in spite  of   that  he did not know   how to cry

Though the food we ate  , the cloths we wore ,

The  education     that we  underwent for years,

Were a result   of  his    dripping   sweat,

He had never  told  us about that   , even once  ,

But he stood like a stone   and never  cried

Though he who never   used to talk even a  few words to us  ,

He would spend all his time talking  to every one,

About  how his children    were   very great,

And when we scoffed at him in spite of it , he never cried.

WE who keep on praising   and praising ,

The affection showered on us by our Mom,

Never even realised the affection ,

Of that man  whom we called  our father,

But he never  cried because of it.

If we  get  the first hairs on our upperlips ,

Or when  we   are called  a pretty girl by  the world,

His  mind and face  would be bathed   by great pride,

If by chance we grew taller   than him ,

He would feel as if he himself has grown more tall,

He would allow  us to walk  in front of him,

And   would with pride  enjoy our progress,

But when we never realized all that , he never cried.

When we achieve any thing,  we never used to think

That our father was  the chief contributor,

And when we put on airs before him and boasted ,

He    did not know    how    to cry.

Our father   did not know how to show his affection ,

He did know how   to fondle us   and praise  us,

He did  not know how   to   make false claims

He did  not know how to show out  his suffering,

He did  not know how to save money and keep it to himself

And unfortunately   that simpleton did  not know how to cry.

Even when  all of us  who owed  our  greatness to him,  hurt him,

Even when he is made  in to a servant  by  his daughter in law ,

Even when without mercy , love and affection, he is thrown  out in to an old age  home,

He  did  not know how to cry,  for  he can bear anything  for the sake of our happiness

Whether   we wanted to show  our affection,

Whether we wanted to  beg for pardon for mistakes committed

Or whether   we  are broken down and wanted to cry

It would  always be better   for us to tell him

For that   stone did  not know how to cry.