bad news

“Hello! Where are you?” Are you at home ?”
It started off so innocuously.How was one suppose to fathom the immensity of bad news that was to follow later?
“Daddy is no more.”
She thought she didn’t hear it right.When she did, it was with a surreal feeling. As if a fog had descended. Voices and sights became blurred, and her throat was choked by a sudden, large lump.
It was so sudden. As if a punch had been landed, in the pit of the stomach.

good news

Munna bounded up the stairs two at a time and plonked himself on the green rexine sofa, panting, eyes wide with terror.
People poured into the room, somberly, silently. All eyes were on Munna, still struggling with his breath.
Someone was callous enough to sidle upto him and ask in loud whisper,” The child is dead.Isn’t he ?”
Munna recoiled from him in horror, and started screaming , hysterically, “I haven’t done anything, maine kuch nahin kiya!” Over and over again , like a stricken parrot.
At this point, grandpa entered the room, and raised his hand. Munna immediately clammed up.
“The good news is , it is a mere fracture.”
The doctors briefcase was ever so gently placed on the centre table.
The entire room breathed easy.

Today was his first day of independent driving.And Munna had screwed it up. Gloriously. He had knocked a boy off his bicycle , in the choked lanes of the town bazaar. Now the police will come in hordes,and they did. 
The car was impounded and a massive manhunt launched for Munna , who went underground.
What made the matters worse was that Munna was a mere car mechanic, with no license.

Jitterbug

His tiny frame would tremble, shiver and shake.
Barefoot ,clad in an oversized shirt and someone else’s shorts dripping down below his bony knees, he would hop, skip, jump and pirouette; out of no fancy reason. The jitterbug.
Perhaps he was just happy being alive in a land cursed with the plague of poverty and need.
He would spill water from his bucket, or scatter precious grocery on the path; but wasn’t deterred. The song in his head was loud enough to drown the clamour of the wretched living realities.
He would bring long forgotten smile to lips caked with the dust of misery, people would nod and shake their head at the sight of him.
He would, for a moment; let them live and breathe free, and rejoice in the glory of Lord’s creation

Reply

waltz

The party was long over.
People grabbed their plates and ladled food, hurriedly masticating, and talking in whispers, for it was close to midnight, and womenfolk , especially, needed to be back home , with their kids.
The band kept playing a slow number, and the two, the inseparable, drunken duo, continued to waltz.
Like zombies , or tired fireflies, they were twirling, moving, swaying,almost sensuously.
And they were in serious trouble. Their boss watched them, chewing furiously, as they danced oblivious.
It didn’t help that they were both, bachelors.

Dance

No turning back now. Her name was being announced on the stage.
All she could hear was some gibberish , ending with a shout-“Dance!!”
Ear-splitting applause , hoots and whistles rend the air.
Some one gave last minute tucks to the garland of plastic flowers on the enormous bun on her head.
Then she was thrust towards the stage. The night air felt cold on her bare shoulder and she shivered . Her heart went thump-thump and mouth went dry.
The thunder of the applause had died down and she was facing a sea of grinning faces.
“So this is it”.She closed her eyelids heavy with makeup and waited for the music to begin.

Set them free

Stray ideas, phrases, sounds,
and sometimes
complete sentences
Pop into my mind
and start a riot
If not released
with immediate effect

like budgerigars
arguing inside their cage
like so many canines
straining at their leash
barking hoarse
like a caged lion
pacing round and round
gone crazy

the words stumble
around, dashing
and bruising themselves
inside the
cranial confines
looking for release

So ,
in the end
you
set them  free
pleased to see
them soar in the sky
race on the ground
or roar , unchecked
in the prairie 

Terrible happenings

You seared my soul
with a red hot poker tip
No one heard the scream
for the sizzle was louder
and the pain
ahhh that is something different
I must tell you
I bore my mark
till my dying day
like a tattoo of shame
Or a badge of honour
I am yet to decide
which
brings me greater
notoriety


In a flash of revelation
The truth  hammered
itself home
riding on red hot rage
that when you said
different
you meant
the earth
and the sky
and here I was
on land
still thinking
we could be
just
poles apart

So many lies
revealed in an
instant
like a bustling bee hive
of perilous promise
beneath
the verdant placidity
of dense foliage