On that fateful September day in 1908
the downpour had reached alarming rates
The torrential rains proved too much for several tanks
which overflowed towards the river's now submerging banks
The hydrological beast raged along its easterly course
There was little that could oppose its force
With the hospital drowned the sick and the relapsing
One by one the bridges started collapsing
The incessant downpour and the river in spate
Left the homes and markets in a shambolic state
Nature's might struck not far from the Four Towers
The waters rose and lives fell to the power
Enter a man from the kingdom of Mysore
who had made inroads into engineering folklore
Having worked some wonders with water
M Visvesvaraya was now sought after
and he was asked to present what he had in store
Appointed, he and his team got on with the assigned duty
He proposed a mix of engineering and aesthetic beauty
A dam-reservoir and a lake were proposed
upstream of where city life met the river's course
A measure aimed at containing the flow
to dispel some force before it could grow
In the middle of the disaster zone
it was proposed to make a way wide
Greenery would line the borders
Buildings would stand aside
The stitches slowly came up in time
The pearl was regaining its shine
The same beast that had swept away lives
would now be serving as a lifeline
For a few dozen years the beast benignly ran
Saw constructive and destructive conquests of man
The flow of power was appearing to have changed its course
As the beast, now polluted, was running out of force
It wasn't strong enough now, it could no longer raze
But nature inevitably teaches lessons in other ways
Both in the Hi-Tec world and far away
the glass and concrete proceed
The metaphorical waters rise,
the groundwater continues to recede
Upstream, the dam and lakes
no longer quench the thirst of the land
In the city, a muddled rivulet
runs through where heritage buildings stand
After a century and a decade and a year
Emerges a new beast, a different kind of fear
Like all urban jungles, the menace continues to grow
Like all urban jungles, a solution is the need of the hour
Like for all concrete jungles, testing times lie ahead
for the lands far and wide beyond the Four Towers
the downpour had reached alarming rates
The torrential rains proved too much for several tanks
which overflowed towards the river's now submerging banks
The hydrological beast raged along its easterly course
There was little that could oppose its force
With the hospital drowned the sick and the relapsing
One by one the bridges started collapsing
The incessant downpour and the river in spate
Left the homes and markets in a shambolic state
Nature's might struck not far from the Four Towers
The waters rose and lives fell to the power
Enter a man from the kingdom of Mysore
who had made inroads into engineering folklore
Having worked some wonders with water
M Visvesvaraya was now sought after
and he was asked to present what he had in store
Appointed, he and his team got on with the assigned duty
He proposed a mix of engineering and aesthetic beauty
A dam-reservoir and a lake were proposed
upstream of where city life met the river's course
A measure aimed at containing the flow
to dispel some force before it could grow
In the middle of the disaster zone
it was proposed to make a way wide
Greenery would line the borders
Buildings would stand aside
The stitches slowly came up in time
The pearl was regaining its shine
The same beast that had swept away lives
would now be serving as a lifeline
For a few dozen years the beast benignly ran
Saw constructive and destructive conquests of man
The flow of power was appearing to have changed its course
As the beast, now polluted, was running out of force
It wasn't strong enough now, it could no longer raze
But nature inevitably teaches lessons in other ways
Both in the Hi-Tec world and far away
the glass and concrete proceed
The metaphorical waters rise,
the groundwater continues to recede
Upstream, the dam and lakes
no longer quench the thirst of the land
In the city, a muddled rivulet
runs through where heritage buildings stand
After a century and a decade and a year
Emerges a new beast, a different kind of fear
Like all urban jungles, the menace continues to grow
Like all urban jungles, a solution is the need of the hour
Like for all concrete jungles, testing times lie ahead
for the lands far and wide beyond the Four Towers
