1st February, 2022
Today I morphed into a gyaani
Publicly offering wisdom
to the young man in the bank
Young man with a maroon knitted cap
Who just had to get a cheque 'received'.
He tried jumping the queue
But the counter clerk told him
To join the line like everyone else.
The two customers before me
Had time-consuming dealings
And this young man, just behind me
Was grumbling away,
about how useless and
terrible this bank was.
With all the kindness (and patience)
That I could summon up,
Overcoming my natural diffidence
I spoke to him, telling him gently
That today is the first of the month
A busy day for bankers,
And if you are in a place
Where you have to wait for a while
Curb your irritation, and use it well
Think good thoughts, remember God,
If you happen to believe,
And do not let your mind
Be agitated and restless.
He listened, perhaps stunned
By this strange, masked woman,
And said that he believed
In his Thakurji.
I then spent half a minute
At the counter,
Getting two cheques 'received'
And left, exchanging with him
A warm and friendly smile.
I sometimes surprise myself!
21st January, 2022
When there's not enough
leftover rice to put away
or to give away,
and which you don't want
to throw away
the pigeons come to mind
as avian waste disposal
Put it on the outer edge
of the balcony railing
Whitey comes along
with a lean and hungry look
This winter has been a harsh one
others follow,
and you find yourself
reaching for a stale roti too,
wondering if you are being a fool
inviting the pestiferous pigeons
into your territory.
The squirrel comes along too,
foraging, charming,
as desi squirrels are.
A quick look in the fridge
finds a forgotten lump of paneer,
stale and smelly.
You break it into pieces, and leave it out
and wonder if it will be eaten
The squirrel sits there quietly
whiskers aquiver, while 'suspigeons' wonder
if this white stuff is food or not.
You come back after a while, and its all gone,
as are the squirrel and the pigeons.
16th January, 2022
The spouse sometimes has
Two hardboiled eggs
For breakfast, or dinner.
I knock them together
To shell them, and have observed that
The egg in my left hand always cracks,
Is the 'hittee', to coin a term
While the one in the right hand
Remains whole, the hitter,
Till I crack it on the worktop.
Is this a metaphor for life?
Hittee and hitter are both
Sliced,salted, peppered
Consumed.
12th January, 2022
In the cold of winter
In the midst of the gloom
The limes are ripening
As new flowers bloom
Many leaves are browning
There is much decay
But there's the promise that spring
Isn't too far away
3rd January, 2022
The sickness and rot
Spreading like a cancer
Through minds that know
No grace, no love
A cancer fostered by
Impunity pumped within
This sick system
Dehumanizing all
But the few they consider
Worthy of survival
In mera Bharat mahaan
Excluding many
Targeting minorities
The underprivileged
Underdogs, who ache
To survive with respect
Just a modicum of it,
As human beings
As equal citizens
In a country that belongs
To us all.
My heart aches
At the rot, seemingly
Untreatable.
Please prove me wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment