Thursday, March 25, 2010

Evening on Marine Drive

Crackling shells
of a roasted groundnut
fell
as we walked
on the shore at sunset.

Brushing aside
that willful strand of hair
off my face
I stood and stared
at those passing unknown faces
flashing through my
lens' screen...

I wonder how
that child of four
or five
is happy with his running nose
and patchy clothes...
Where does he go
when the darkness falls?
Is there a place
that he calls his home?

And a chaiwala 
succeeds in selling me
an over priced, under-boiled
hot cup of tea
While the chipswala
grumbled softly
at my refusal
for his fare...

There are couples here
and there
and some more too far
finding the comforting embrace
of a crowded place
Where holding hands
or a spontaneous kiss
is no disgrace...
i see their smile
made me forget
the destitute's pain...

For fitness' sake
or just a break
you see them walk
and run and pace
With music on
or dogs in chains
the lifeline here
is on its shore...

And darkness falls
into the sea
Cool cars whizz by
the star struck eyes
trying to find 
the city of their dreams
As they stand and stare
for just that little more:
a house opening on to the sea,
a car that guzzles the petroleum
resources of the world
and a few thousands crisp Gandhi face
in their back pockets...

The stars lit up the sky
and the necklace was shining bright
our conversation continued
as we walked back to the junction
and back to our
race against time
an evening spent
in the heart of my Mumbai...

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Choking on you...

How do i explain how i feel?

i feel...

like i am drowning in the deep deep sea
far away from the shore
with no hands to pull me back,
back to the shore...

i feel...

the sting of my burning soles
as if they were walking on coals of fire
with the stench of my burnt flesh
all pervading the air
and i can't breathe...

i feel...

the pricks of innumerable
invisible, everlasting needles
hurting the insides of my soul
and i can't cry
or utter a word...

i feel...

the shame of a slave
all tied up
and nothing and no one
to save it from the shame
not even death
the elusive escape...

Sunday, March 21, 2010

A goodbye note...

Can't say a word.
But i lived my part with you.
Now we part on a note
i never knew
would come our way.

Now we are here

far from each other's view
i cry a little
sometimes laugh
at a joke we shared
secretly glance at the spot
that was ours
as i walk past it
in my everyday fare.

Who do i complain?

Whom to blame?
Why did i let you go
when you were the one who knew
what my words never said?

It is the way of the world

and we care too much
for the rest of them
and what they feel
should be done...

I let you go

but i want you to know
i am here
right where i was
and when the world comes to an end
We will be one.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Our Play

The curtain is
about to unveil...

All the hours of practice,

of dialogues exchanged
behind the scenes,
of emotions and drama
entwining dreams with action,
of mis-timed cues
and comic timings
sailing through...

The curtain is

about to unveil...

Jitters and prayers

to break-a-leg,
poking questions: Standing ovation-
will that greet us
or will we face
all empty chairs?

The curtain is

about to unveil...

As i sit here in the wings

and know i can do no more
than wait and watch
all my hours of toil
and biting nails
being over now...
the theatre of life
begins its refrain...

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Follow you

I will follow you
like the moon around the earth
Will you be my earth?

Will you stand by me
when i wax and wane,
when i hide in the darkness
or while i shine brighter than the stars?

Will you pull me to you,
but not too close
so that my orb is around you
but i don't burn
and crash on your floor?

I will follow you
like a meter on a running cab.
Will you turn me on?

Would you manipulate
and fix the way i move
or let me move
the way i was meant to move?

Will you tamper my seal
and sell me off
for some tiny deal?

I will follow you
like i have followed you around
in the daily hours of silence.
Will you be my sound?

Will you say the words
my mouth cannot form
and read my mind
for all my concerns?

Will you know

that i have followed you
for you alone
and not for some vested gains?
And i will follow you
else my life will not remain...

Perfect Night

Just around the corner
near the old walls
of Keval Mahal
close to the imprinted footstep
the love was shared

The necklace lit up the night

and the waves were on low tide
murmuring against the rocks
as they smiled

The walls have grown older

the necklace now brighter...
barefoot she stood
watching the surging tide
crash against the rocks
her dreams
of the perfect night
now gone amuck...

and she was like the crabs
on the rock
one step ahead
two steps back
her life going in circles

that never seemed to stop...

Friday, March 5, 2010

In a wayward way...

I love you
in a wayward way.
In extreme passion for a moment
and a longer moment
later I fight you off

Your love which cares
touches me;
But sometimes suffocates
my streak of independence
and pushes the boundaries of my space…

I wait for
a sign
an instance
that would tell me again
and again
that I love you the same
or even more…

You are like a drug
in my veins
you make me live
even after a death
a thousand times more
when you are out and away…

I love you
in my wayward way...