THOSE RICKSHAW PULLERS OF CALCUTTA <br /> -A TRIBUTE- <br />Once they formed an indispensable part of old <br />Calcutta, now Kolkata. <br />Synonymous with the Howrah Bridge and the Monument! <br />Today they are no longer seen, - <br />Those hand-pulled rickshaws of yore <br />have become extinct, <br />Like the Dodo or the pre-historic Dinasores! <br />The toiling sweat from those labouring brows <br />Blended with the hot tarmac roads under the <br />summer’s sun! . <br />Those pair of running legs forming an extension, <br />Making his chariot look like a four-wheeler ! <br />With its hooded cover and metallic bell; - <br />Mobile, all- weather, carrying you to the very <br />door step’s end; wading through knee-deep water <br />of Calcutta, where many automobiles lay floundered! <br />May God bless those valiant folks, those <br />intrepid sprits, - <br />Whom the older generations knew better, - <br />Those brave rickshaw pullers of Calcutta. <br /> <br /> -Raj Nandy, New Delhi <br /> 24 May 2007.<br /><br />RAJ NANDY<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/those-rickshaw-pullers-of-calcutta-a-tribute/
