Mere Ram Jeeo

O Sweet Lord


What a season you chose
for your coming
O sweet lord
When the flowers have wilted
in the garden
O sweet lord

Where were you
when this garden was a tumult
of youthful passion?
Where were you
when the champa flowered
and spread its heady fragrance
everywhere?
Where were you
when body and heart
beat in unison
Where were you
in the blossoming season
my sweet lord?

Where were you
When I was younger
and my father was looking
for a groom?
Where were you
when the vatna
was being put?
Where were you
when I was leaving
for another’s home?
Where were you
in the flowering season
when the garden
was thirsting for rain?

Saawan after saawan
the seasons passed
Why did you not come then?
What a season you chose
for your coming
O sweet lord
When the flowers have wilted
in the garden
O sweet lord


Note to the Reader: The version of the poem transcreated here is somewhat different from the song by Chitra Singh below. While tracking Shiv’s work I have often come across more than one version of a particular piece.