Rhythm

I hear distant drums being played on and I recall the story my grandmother told me about .... About people who used to relay all their messages through drums about the rhythm of the drum which conveyed all messages happy and sad the drums were such an important part of life it was like their armour to what life threw at them when drums were played upon and the person who played played it with such hardness and truthfulness that the messages became less important than the drum rhythm itself each person had his own version of the beats and the meaning itself - and slowly it became a ritual to play a drum - with no implications at all the rituals put the drum player on the highest pedestal among us - and then they were idolised and worshipped many generations later - worshipping the drum player with the playing of many drums started what else could a person ask for - then there will be competitions for the best drum player for the next generation and then slowly violence crept to win the highest honour many unsolved murders and politics were created then- now the it was life and death that was played upon- then there was a marriage when the clan could no longer take the blood anymore and thus started a custom of the son taking after the Father’s role - and then Fathers left secret will for their Favourite sons to take the position - this bought rivalry among brothers and bloodshed started now it was not between brothers - it was among two groups within a clan This bought many battles and heroes and many villains as well - it also left many widowed, handicapped and many inept at working anymore If a clan had the misfortune to lose a battle - they became slaves of their own people Some clan who again born a revolutionary who would break the shackles of slavery and then people started forgiving and let bygones be bygones - these old eyes had seen too much blood, anger and love - and my grandmother sighed when she said all this - I had slept by then on her lap and there were drums still ringing in my ears - or was it my heart pounding in my chest .....