by Dr. Balaram Sahu
Editor, Ama Akhapakh (the Odia version of Honey Bee)
drbalarams10@gmail.com
Autumn has just arrived
From the clean blue sky
Down to the lap of mother earth,
With the beautiful gifts of golden dews.
To give the bouts of heavenly bath!
Magic stream of autumn dews
Dribble down drop by drop
Celebrating life all the where
To make us all freshen up.
As the night goes deep and deep
Intimate dialogue sets in
Dewdrops wrap the earth
For health and wisdom to get in
Leaves, buds, flowers and seeds
Drenched in the autumn dews
Make one heavenly worth,
Blue sky prepares the next boost of dews.
For lives on the mother earth
An old woman in her seventies
Listens to the call of night dews
Spreads her harvested seeds and paddy
Over her thatched house roof
By this she observes
Dews strengthen her seeds
Make them fit for the next show,
Many possibilities ahead
To nurture these breeds!
Cosmic energies in the autumn dews.
Potentate her seeds she sows.
Seeds are sprouted, strong and stout
Promising for a better crop
She thanks the autumn dew
For it dribbles drop by drop
As usual she visits her croplands
Early in every morning
Gathers flowers, fruits and vegetables
Best nurtured by autumn dews.
(Shrimati Narshi Bhatra, of Siraguda village in Tentulikhunti block, Nowrangpur district of Odisha, treats her seeds of paddy, pulses and vegetables with autumn dews before sowing. She gets a good, pest-free crop by this traditional method. Many other farmers also follow this traditional practice of Odisha, and have seen good results.)
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