JALABALA VAIDYA (India)
Jalabala Vaidya is a poet, writer, actor and theatre activist. Alongwith her husband, Gopal Sharman, she set up Akshara Theatre in the heart of New Delhi and revolutionized the concept of theatre and theatre acting. She is known for her solo renditions of the Ramayana.

 

Tree

 

For better or worse
The tree in our yard
Is a tree.
Its new leaves shiny, trunk hard,
Its berries, underfoot, like chewing gum.
Its only effort — to be a tree.The tree in my yard,
All through the year
Is beautiful to me.The birds in my garden
Sing in each season
A new song.
For a mate, for their young,
Each has its reason.
And I hear peace.

The tree in our yard,
The birds in my garden
Give solace to me.

Flowers dance colour
In the spring,
Scent the night in summer.
At 40 degrees bougainvillea blaze
But green grass and green leaves
Soothe my eyes.

The life in my garden
Turns in its time
Faithful and free.

When my heart is bleeding,
What’s done is done,
Past beyond mending,
One and another One,
I am me, like the tree,
Standing still in the sun.

My garden’s melody
Helps me be free like the tree,
Till my time is done.