Can He Take The Monsoons With Him? Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

(1)
Vasco da Gama, the trader
from Portugal landed at Beypore port
to purchase black peppercorns
thousands of pounds
in exchange for fabrics, gold,
brass, sugar, oil and honey.
Godowns of Beypore emptied of pepper
his ships loaded to the hilt.

da Gama wished to visit
the large farmlands
on the slopes of the Hills where
peppervines grew in abundance,
the lush green vines healthy
climbing on the trees lining
the fertile slopes of Wayanad,
he could not take his eyes off.

He took many thousands of
vine-cuttings to plant them
on plains of Alto Alentejo,
and on the banks of River Tagus.

The farmers feared that
if he grew peppervines in Portugal,
they would lose the large
lucrative European market,
so did the traders of Beypore;
together they approached
their King Saamoothiri
of Kozhikode with the story.

The king was unconcerned,
"let him carry the peppervines, but
can he take our monsoon with him? "
he laughed, the audience perplexed.

(2)
Peppervines grow healthy
and produce yield abundant
in the temperate climate
of the hills and plains of Malabar.

Pepper flowers are pollinated
not by birds, insects or bees
but by water envelopeing them
of the abundant monsoon rains.

Unless pollinated correctly
the flowers on the pepper-spikes
will not grow into pungent reds
that hold the markets captive;

if it does not rain abundantly
during the flowering season
to pollinate the pepper flowers,
the vines will give little yield.

The Saamoothiri knew this well
and could not contain his mirth
at the ignorance of his own citizens
but, of da Gama the explorer too.

Words and places:
1) Kozhikode: (or Calicut) was a country-state in Malabar ruled by kings with the title "Saamoothiri". The kingdom consisted of the present Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram and Kannur (and parts of Palakkad and Thrissur) districts of Kerala State, India.
2) Wayanad: The Hills in the erstwhile Country-State of Kozhikode. Now a district in Kerala
3) the Hills: The Wayanad Hills
4) Alentejo: a region of south-central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means 'beyond (além) the Tagus river' (Tejo) . Alto (upper) Alentejo Province is part of Alentejo region.
5) pungent reds: the individual pepper drupe (tiny, just three or four mm in diameter) aesthetically arranged on the spike, is green until it is ripe and red when ripe. The outer green or red thin flesh turns black when dried. Hence called black pepper. The inner "stone" containing one pungent seed is white. So, the de-skinned pepper is white pepper.
6) ‘markets': European markets. Even today.
7) pollination/ pollinate: a reference to botany.