Sujata And A Spirit... Poem by PARTHA SARATHI PAUL

Sujata looked down and blue;
she was giving up on herself
as she could not get on well
with her study and exams.

she began keeping herself indoors
and hating to have a word with anyone;
sitting all alone she stayed in a world far away.
nothing was working to change this odd phase.

her parents got terribly anxious
and put their heads together with family old heads;
one preacher like relative thought out a remedy
as he could see through one wicked spirit behind all this.

it was fixed that they would take her to their village exorcist.
she cried and wept but all wanted her to see as fine as she used to be.
it was one moonless eerie evening jolly fit to drive away a bad spirit;
she looked around and froze in fear and her parents sat a little away there.

a man with his matted hair put her in a circle chair;
he lashed her with his magic broom and zoomed like a wizard gnome.
she did not know who was there inside or anywhere but lost senses in fear.
the man shouted to her parents that he had now freed their daughter.

she was taken back home at the end of this bizarre ordeal
and put to sleep as she needed long a sleep until
she wakes up herself with all her old zeal and thrill:
there are many others like Sujata in the list still.