SYNOPSIS IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

The poem IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP is about the experience of a group of villagers who go out to search for a lost albino buffalo.They spend a whole day and night braving a terrible flood,amidst dead animals and floating pieces of bark.In spite of their extreme discomfort and failed mission,they surprisingly remain calm,hopeful and in high spirits.
The first stanza tells us about the return of a number of villagers in their soaked clothes,hungry,with scratches on their hands and wounds on their legs.They go straight to the stove as they must be feeling hungry.In spite of their extreme discomfort,they show no signs of despair.
The second stanza relates what they go through the night and the day before.They brave the terrible flood waters among bloating carcasses and floating tree barks looking for their son,s albino buffalo which is never found.
The third stanza reveals that they are born in poverty.They have more or less accepted their fate and have learnt never to sight or complain about their lot in life.They take the harsh realities of life philosophically and go out living life leisurely.