Saturday, June 28, 2008

The Way of the World

When I was 15 years, I had written "The Way of the World" and it had fetched me a medal at the Shankar's International Children's Competition from the hands of the president of India (Mr R. Venkataraman). When I wrote it, I didnt know much of economics and now when I read it, I realize, I had tried to exemplify the concept of demand/supply of microeconomics and then extend it to aggregate variables of macroeconomics and thereby touch upon the basic measures in macro-economics. Well, lets get on with the poem:


The Way of the World

(The story of the Johns and Josephines)


Flowers were blooming and the weather - good,

And under a pine, sweet Josephine stood.

She wriggled and swayed on that day in May

And then John noticed her wriggle that way-

"Ah ... such heavenly grace.... wish she was mine"

And he approached her slowly under the pine.

Gallantly he performed all the great acts -

Revelling in revealing all his bitter facts,

Then one fine day, he blurted out the question,

She gingerly smiled at its mention.


That was all - at some church they tied the knot

And soon they were found near the baby cot.

The newly wed couple were very pleased

But then the world population increased

And the venerable PM's brows creased:

The taxes were raised and foreign debts scaled

And people's angry, hungry faces paled-

All because John noticed, one fine day,

Josephine wriggling in an artful way.