In this poem, the poet Suryakant Tripathi “Nirala’ gives us an emotional portrayal of the troubles of a helpless stone-breaker and how she is devoid of any means or comforts.
The poet notices the labourer breaking stones one day on a street in Allahabad. There was no shady tree there below which she could sit and rest. She was dark-skinned but youthful. Her eyes were completely focused on the task of breaking stones.
With a heavy hammer in hand, she was raining blows on the stones. In front of her, there was a row of tall buildings and trees lining the street. It was the summer season. The day was getting hotter. The sun was beating down hard. A scorching wind was blowing. The earth was burning like a ball of cotton. Dust was flying everywhere. It was afternoon, yet she continued working and breaking the stones.
She saw the poet looking at her and immediately looked towards the building which was in front of her. When she found that there was no one there, she looked back at the poet. Even after looking at the poet looking at her, she did not feel embarrassed about her pitiable state. The strings of her heart which were not playing, the poet could still hear through his imagination as if it was a heavily decorated sitar. A droplet of sweat dripped from her forehead. After looking for a second in the other direction, she once again brought her focus back to her work.
