Month: June 2021

The rains come
with a momentum
a heavy downpour
inundating high and low.

The sun rises
shines with a brilliance
scorching the places
plains and hills.

The storm blows
in high velocity
bringing roofs down
a collapse unthinkable.

Flooding dries up
Heat subdues,
Wind abates.
All happen in a day.

A tribal woman walks fast
a pot in her head, with
a toddler toeing behind
a little one  in her hips.

Balancing the pot
pulling her child
she makes haste 
her bare feet

turn red while 
treading  on the burning 
tar. The child cries bitter
his tender feet burns. 

the baby whimpers 
unable to tag any more
soaked in his mother’s 
sweat.

he pot remains intact
not a drop falls down
her balancing is perfect
her move though in a hurry 

is measured. The trio reach
home where granny 
waits for them  with 
a toothless grin.

The mother places the pot
in the kitchen, lights 
the firewood starts cooking
nursing  the baby.

The man intoxicated  to the brim
returns home screams at his wife
or her tardiness. He beats her 
in and out,.

The woman smiles, teary eyed,
her body bruised  badly,  The baby sucks 
with force, painful her other child
 nudges close to granny.

The man moves out with a plate
full of rice and broth, the boy reaches 
out to  his mother, wipes her tears
takes a handful of rice  and  tries to feed her.

Granny lies helpless fuming.
wanting to hit her son, 
refrains as he is inebriated.
The family goes to sleep
to wake up the next day

Having exhausted his manipulations
Pal in his living room looks at the art 
pieces his mom had carefully placed.
Each one tells an anecdote
that happened years ago.

Swans in light blue and white,
displayed on the  sides, stand 
for purity, love and majesty,
Lord Shiva placed between 
the display cabinets,

professes  destruction of evil
God of Justice  occupies
the center, Had Pal 
cast a look at anyone of them
his life would have turned significant. 

A library divides the living 
and the dining. Books being  
his dad’s collection, while the 
other side displays crockery,
porcelain and silver.

They remain untouched as Pal
spends time in aspects of life
destruction, creating 
chaos and fury, the ethereal  
does not fascinate him.

Leaving Pal at this juncture,
I turn to the exotic,
look at the lofty, think 
of the exquisite,  Thoughts 
of him stifle and choke.

Pal is associated 
with a religious mutt
where the Swamiji 
turns his devout. A reversal. 
instead he following 
the religious head. it is 
other way  round.
an incidental reference 
 to substantiate
Pal’s  skill.

Swamiji ‘s followers
 unable to toe with their Guru 
decide to quit. Pal  acts swift.
 Brings in his friends 
who, needless to say,
 possess the same 
qualities of Pal.
The mutt becomes 
 a society where discussions 
other than religion 
take place.

It becomes a center
for illegitimate conventions. 
Swamiji  becomes terminally ill.
Losing its identity the mutt
 heads for a closure. 
The funds and the building 
slip into the hands
 of anti social elements.
Amen to  God and Religion.

Pal is dangerous
breaks and destroys
whatever comes 
could be a business,
 could be a project.
 runs away when half done
 else  stays glued till he spoils.

As a boy having  to accompany 
his mom  in her travel
with tickets booked,
luggage ready, he 
refuses to come out however much 
his mom tries, he remains stubborn, 
Mom goes on her own.

Apparently unassuming, simple 
 treacherous  in heart,  he 
speaks soft like an angel
mind  schemes evil.
Framing his execution with dexterity 
makes  Raj believe he is nonpareil,
 a charmer, while Raj revels 
 Pal would have entrapped  him 
in an ambush from which  Raj
can never escape.

Pal’s wife gives birth to a female child.
 He refuses to believe.. He calls the hospital
 twice  to make sure of the sex of the new born.

The enraged  Gynecologist  hangs the phone.
Pal remains unsure for a while ” can’t be so”
 he mumbles. 

He reconciles soon after. The girl
 becomes his darling, he pampers,
 spoils her.

The girl grows up- an exaggerated photocopy 
 of her father possessing the qualities 
not a decimal less.

She throws tantrums which Pal 
never does, an added feature
that makes  her life  difficult.

Pal continues to live without a change.
 Age has not mellowed him nor he
 attempts to  correct himself.

The wedding of Pal
 a few decades back displayed 
his most extra ordinary 
behaviour,  quixotic rather.  

Dressed in a Sherwani,
stitched in detail and forethought 
 by his mother to fit all her sons.
 the golden brocade material

shone with a brilliance
being brushed and polished 
with care. His hair 
hung loose, the unruly locks

covered his face, his 
moustache dropped
the turban was a little big
did not sit well on his head.

he led the procession
with his mother beside him. 
dad and siblings followed. 
The village was agog to witness

 a bridegroom different 
from the regular. With
 a sly smile  he entered 
to meet his  coy bride.

The other day 
I hear Pal conversing 
with a manufacturer
who has huge stock.
bales and bales of cloth.

Pal listens to him with concern
 spells out a strategy.

Taking the hand of his friend,
pressing gently with assurance 
advises him to sell the cloth
for  half the rate. The man 
pulls his hand, 

wild with anger shouts
You and your economics
how could this be possible?
will lead to straight loss’,
Pal tries to calm him down.

The manufacturer makes haste
else he would lose his head
what little sanity he has 
will be lost if he continues 
staying with Pal. 

Pal’s teachers would complain 
about his unkempt hair. 
They combed his hair made him
look presentable,

He will make his friends believe
that he comes from a poor family,
His father  a daily wage earner
and his mother  uneducated.

 He came to school in a 
chauffer driven car, 
when mom entered his class
to review his performance, 

the classmates could not 
believe to see a dignified,  
well informed and elegant lady
Pal  held his head down.

He did not lift his eyes when 
the teacher appraised mom 
of his  unsatisfactory  progress,
and his disclosures,

Pal continues being dubious,
speaking one, doing other
mixing lies and deceit liberally.

I pick the call
allow him to talk
intercepting with 
‘yes, yes, yes”.

His intonation
grows sharp
‘are you listening?”
 he asks.

“Yes. yes. yes”.
I reply. Unconvinced 
he asks me quickly
 “what did I say”?

” You were talking about 
the keys” “.You are right.”
He elaborates his search
with reference to context.

He rambles for ten minutes. 
Concludes in a low key 
he cannot find them.
I key in ” It is what I expected “.