Frog Dance
After the final school bell rang, we students rushed over the drought-cracked ground to witness the Frog Dance, Bengei nacha. After one of the elders caught a fat frog from the local pond and the women decorated it like a queen, with turmeric powder and red pigment, everyone gathered in the middle of the village. With the frog's release, they began beating drums, jumping up and down, clapping and praying to Indra Devata. The frog leaped across the sun-baked village road, croaking amidst the loud clapping, as we all waited for the first dark cloud to appear. Even today, whenever I hear a frog's call, I smile and lift one eye towards the sky.
morning dream--
all the shapes
in the sound of rain
Author’s Note: The Frog Dance, known as "Bengei nacha," is traditionally performed in the coastal villages of the Ganjam district of Odisha state, India, after a long spell of drought to appease the rain god (Indra Devata).
Contemporary
Haibun Online, 16:1 2020 (Ed. Rich Youmans)
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