Harsh reality

It was just after my 10th exams that I got the idea to rush to my native place, a village in the countryside. With images of beautiful, exciting days from books, I reached there full of hope. Mainly, to see the never-ending paddy fields, the splashing of water and the sweet noise of birds. Awaiting me was harsh reality. The fields were being filled in by large earth-movers. The water in the river had dried up due to a dam upstream. Birds did not have any home and I saw only crows. The night under a fan was no different from the city.

As I departed, I saw the black, smoky hands of urbanisation enveloping my sweet old village.

Manu Chandran, XII
Thiruvananthapuram: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan S.S. School

PS : This was my first published work; in Quest,HinduSo I thought it needed a space here. This is the link.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/quest/200206/stories/2002060801700200.htm