Sunday, May 7, 2023

MOODS

Lips rounding to squeeze the juicy mango,
licking pulp streaming down fingers,
humming flies on the bin outside
looking for their share of peels.
Water cooler's thirst for buckets of water
pickled mango pieces filling ceramic pots
school books lazing on shelves,
hot afternoons
cajoling snoring siestas.


Wet mud on shoes, bicycle itching for a daily shower,
frogs polishing their singing on little puddles.
Slithery earthworms sneaking through front door,
dripping umbrellas fluttering in wet winds
screeching cars spraying puddle water,
pedestrians gifting expletives to the driver.
Mum's vexation at damp clothes and the hiding sun
Showers assembling the family,
for crispy fritters and hot cardamom tea
Rains, a moist break
for caked earth and denizens.


Teeth grinding refusing to be brushed,
the tap spouting cold water.
Fingers hugging hot cups of milk,
refusing to let go, woollens filling the cupboard.
Scribbling letters on foamy glass windows
other rooms envious of the kitchen
bouncing hot soupy slurps and aromas,

familial warmth tucked in various layers. 


Monday, May 1, 2023

COASTLINE

Beaches of crevice in every relationship

pricking granular thoughts tombing castles.

The saline sting rupturing the human core,

pebbled cobwebs tossing the mossy ache.


Every individual a marooned island

entangled in their own web,

cargo of bonds too heavy to slither,

drifting brains scouting for a balmy anchor.


The barnacles of attachments 

the inborn lull easily contaminated.

The sun glistening the mirage of waves, 

the pacifying cove luring the agitated buoy.


Some voyages end, piled at sea bottom,

the other's still sailing, their sandy footprints,

rehearsing residual lives.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

VULNERABLE

Teeming millions blood glistening the mighty black soles

destinies minced in the polish of that one despot,

contours and jaw lines vary. 


Blitzing power and hatred, the perfect manure,

irrigating acres of stone heart massive enough to lather ego.

Innocent lives forming the fodder, their fates calligraphed,

a tyrant's lust for his own karma. 


Roofs and walls incapacitated to shield the proletariat,

metamorphosis of embedded wails and shrieks 

fortunes hitting rock bottom,  

some tiny hands deciphered, some orphaned,

some limbless, wonder where they went wrong.


Ravenous appetite for pages in history syllabus

despots amass masses, puncturing heartbeats on the way.

Countable faint breaths rasp in agony,

only to be figured just as a word in syllabus.


The shoe varies, size changes, times change,

the commoner remains the same, the whole world on his platter,

unaware mortals just a tap away, no blemish on the shoe,

their karmas entwined for a faceless doom. 






My Indian train journeys

 The frenzy of assisting parents in packing suitcases,

the pleasure of jumping on them till it clamps tight

the thrill of shutting all doors and windows

me and my sister bidding bye to our bedroom

frantic search for tiny locks and exact keys for all suitcases.


The rickshaw slowly pulling at the station to the smell of salted cut mango peices

and tangy puffed rice in paper cones

The endless tug at mom for the 25 paise coin to check weight till the train arrives

Counting of the compartments till the train stops

The excitement to occupy the window seat and stretch hands out 

Catching the train at the bend watching the engine puff and cough.


Groping teen eyes reading the names of co passengers stuck on compartment door,

wishing for some handsome guy to be a co traveller for the 24 hour journey

the disappointment at seeing aged men and ladies 

the thrill to buy Archie novels and Pai comics at  A.H Wheeler bookshops on stations

the feel of home bedsheet on train's berth and dozing off 

to awaken to different train announcements.


Listening to Dad's continuous chatter with other passengers,

the enjoyment of eating along with co- passengers, 

sharing each other's delicacies, eagerly climbing up and down the 

top and lower berth

playing cards and reading new town names pass by

drinking tea from little hot earthen pots

fritters and pancakes guys selling food on our faces

the lovely aromas too hard to resist.

The scanning for the uncle who used to come to receive,

the hugs and giggles, the ride back to their home, 

the beginning of the summer holidays.

 

Bend faces on screens, wires, earpods and cables for company

the conversations with rectangular inanimate objects,

pouts, clicks and selfies, posts, likes and insta uploads

the new journey of today's teens.










Saturday, March 11, 2023

MANGLE

 


Flibbertigibbet, gossip and chatter seated on a bench, 
query each other, "What do we have in common."
The singsong chorus echoes "repetitive letters in each word".


The reiterative trait resembling human nature, 
draining energies in its indulgence, a daily itinerary for many,
a difficult practice to shrug off, eroding smoothness in many a relationship.


Men pointing fingers at women for perfecting the art,
office vending machines, smoking alleys begging to differ.
Majority relishing it's flavours, a few handfuls skimming the veracity.

Egoistic mind enjoying its spread, juicy punches promoting facial exercise,
coffins and funerals insufficiently strewing gossips of the dead,
breathing mortals stitching it over time.

Social media, news, its newfound besties,
day or night, any corner of the globe,
scandals on sandals trot and quench 
mundane insatiable appetite for oxytocin.


One breeds the other, hearsays multiply,
written words displace countless canards,
history rewritten and taught,
rumour mocks at the real truth,
binned in the park's litter.  


Monday, February 27, 2023

OBSERVATIONS

The Indian mother daughter duo's American accented chats,

the quiet infant clasping finger of cuddling father,

sleepy pyjamas snuggling my neighbour,

black shawl sneaking her pretty contours,

front seat resting her painted toes.

A journey shared with strangers. 


Reeboks and Nike's immersed in cat walks,

accompanying duty bound smiles of air hostesses, 

The six feet pilot stooping to enter the cockpit,

an occasional chime scurrying the airhostesses.

Mingled thoughts floating in the clouds above.

The blue polka dotted carpet bouncing off emotions,

tapping tattooed hands, golden bangles and fit bits. 


Continents resting on tray tables,

groggy passengers adjust to time zones.

Destination visible, sudden rush to open seatbelts,

the little boy practising the newly learned A, B, C's. 

Panel's letters enjoying the importance,

await the next set of companions. 

Monday, January 30, 2023

REACTION

The streaming WHISPERS in the head, 

rolling into monstrous BAWL
a JOKE on human inability to control the mind.

Incessant ego DEMANDS RAGE to RESPOND
Other senses GROAN BEGGING to be orphaned
THUNDEROUS ego SHRIEKS for control
WAILS hitting blank walls of the inflated brain.
Mankind AGREES time and again.

Why do we lend our keyboard to others always?
For how long will we let others type our responses?
Why can't we defy the maxim?
"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

Mankind has domesticated beasts, caged them in zoos,
can't we tame the human mind
can't it stop exercising the moment our eyes open
can't it wait for our command or request to pursue its activity
does it not get exhausted?

The unsuspecting outside world JABBERS
their wild minds webbed in filigree of cacophony.