झोका

अंधारलेल्या झोपडीत
नको शोधुस छाया
दिवा आणू कुठून?
फकीर माझी माया

हक्काचा एकच दागिना
तूझी हसरी काया
थोडं पुण्य हिशोबी
असेल लेखणीत राया

आता स्वप्ने देखील
पाहवयास परवडत नाही
बांधली तुझ्या नशिबी
अनेक वादळांची शिदोरी

निज तोवर शांत
देते तुज झोका
हाच फक्त माझा
तुझ्या भाग्यात वाटा

It is a much too familiar scene that is hard to miss. Inside a dark make-shift shack belonging to the migrant laborers there often sits a mother trying to put her infant to sleep on a cloth swing. As the rest of the country celebrates a festival of light, I wondered what a mother, without any worldly belongings, would be saying to her child on one such road side sighting.

English Translation: Search not for a shadow to play with in this shack, my child. This darkness forever lives with us here. I carry no glitter tonight to light up your world. The only treasure I live with is your smiling face. I must have done a good deed or two in my past life to have you with me today. Beyond this, I have nothing else to share with you, not even any dreams for your future. What I do see are many a storms brewing that you need to grow up and face. But until then, rest easy tonight. Until then, my only role in your destiny is for your sound sleep tonight.