From my archives, yet again!

Yama Bhaisahib bhi mazedaar hain.

Bataakar nahin aate hain.

Kabhi toh darvaaze par khatkhatkaaye bina hi ghus jaate hain,

Aur apna kam karke, moochen ponchte huey

Tahal jaate hain.

Aur kabhi toh itlaa de kar bhi

Itna waqt laga dete hain

Ki intezaar karte karte lagta hai

Ki yon hi dum nikal jaayega.

Kabhi toh aate hain, phir keh dete hain

“Abhi toh mein bahut vyast hoon,

phir aaoonga.”

Aur baithe rah jaate hain unke chahne waale,

joh kahte hain ki kitna aur bhugtaaogey, mere dost?

Miyan , tum dost ho ki nahin ho?

Tum hamein samajh mein nahin aaye.

Tumhaari samay saarani bhi toh ajeeb hai.

Kabhi ek nanhi si jaan ko le jaate ho

Kabhi bade buzurgon ko tadpate ho

Kabhi ikatthe hi poore ke poore gaon aur shahar

Havai jahaaz ya rail,kuch bhi utha le jaate ho.

Kabhi aspataal mein aankh micholi khelte ho

Kabhi kabhi doctor logon ko thodi der ke liye jeet jaane dete ho

Ajeeb ho tum, Miyan .

Phir bhi tum mere pyaare dost ho-

Ek na ek din tum aaoge zaroor.

Cochin, 11^th December 2000

(The Hindi font has been driving me nuts, hence no Devnagari version this time. Apologies).

Hello June!

Anything can change your life as you know it. Which can be scary. I'd been chugging along for the last few months with vertigo, coughs, colds and fevers and antibiotics- I guess my resistance was at an all time low when I contracted typhoid. I am now trying to deal with three months of convalescence, low energy, and an almost baby food diet, one day at a time.
I'm sitting on a million tags, and will do them as soon as my brain gets reactivated. Right now there seems to be cotton wool stuffed into my skull.

My parents are now in Delhi, after almost three years with us in Gummidipoondi and Kolkata . My sister is staying with them, mostly, leaving her own family while she takes care of them. My flat seems large and empty, and is going to be even emptier while my husband is away on a long business trip.

How will I cope with staying all alone? Do I have the resources to sustain me? Though I often crave solitude, I have very rarely lived alone. It just might be fun..........

What do you think, my friends?