Pull

It was a metal and glass door , as they are wont to nowadays .
The glass wasn’t transparent .
Large red letters asked people on the outside to “Pull”.
So , it was perplexing to see a group of people , waiting patiently outside .
He lowered his legs from the noisy bullet , and looked at himself in the mirror. Passing a hand over his slicked hair , and stood up to see all eyes staring at his golden bike. He loved it . His golden shoes and the gold spray paint all over his 350cc new Royal Enfield.
Gold chains swishing from his hip , the crowd parted as he swaggered up to the door and pulled with all his might.
The door handle , smoothly detached itself and he stood holding a steel handle , with two screws hanging morosely .
“It is locked from inside , bewakoofa( you moron !).” Someone screeched . Others sniggered and looked away.
Not done yet , he set about trying to fix the handle in place , by screwing on with the aid of his bike key . Two minutes of this jingling -jangling and the door flew open .
Our gold clad man was flung to a side and a 7 foot tall Punjab Police constable breathed fire into the crowd ” Who is breaking the door ?”
The crowd shrunk away and pointed at the gold guy , slinking in the shadow with the uprooted handle clutched dolefully in his hand .Telling all .
“When they write pull , never pull . Only knock .” he bellowed. The gigantor took the handle , and ushered everyone in ,with a nod of his mighty head.

The sunset

The phone rang .
“Yeah , Ma.”
“Hello!1 Bubu . You sound tired . where are you ?” Unnecessary questions . She knew already what was the matter .
“How many days ?”
“What ?”
“How many days’ worth medicines are still with you ?” A sharp inhalation . Then a resigned sigh .
“How did you know ?” She sighed .
“I just know Ma .” She was already mentally calculating how many days the courier guy will take to deliver city manufactured medicines to this remote hamlet.
” Ten days’ more .”
“Ok. Plenty of time .”
“Thank you bubu. I hope this will not be too much trouble .”
“Ma!!”
“Thank you my piece of moon . I cannot thank you enough .”
After Ma had hung up , she tried visualising . Ma must be sitting on her bed , with her knitting . Baba must be in the next room , roughly , five feet away , also on his bed , all his medical books and precious english literature scattered in a million words around him , trying to make sense of all the information gathered over a lifetime . Surgical procedures , names of glaciers in Himalayas , Battles from half a century ago , Fromme , Sonne , Bulge , Siege of Leningrad or was it Stalingrad ? She couldn’t confide in her spouse , could she ? Ma had to confide in an offspring sitting 3000 kms away , in a city that spoke a language Ma could never comprehend .
She looked out of the window . A brilliant orange orb was going down. Splashing the skies in waves of yellow , red and ochre .

Admire

Yeah , I admire the way
some words you say
Some ideas bother
crawl and fester
others are flighty
butterfly beauty

I admire how words
sharpen into swords
capable of wounding
slicing, compounding

Some quickly reach ,
the heart of the matter
some take ages ,much
like the proverbial hare 

Must admire
that even in slumber
words dont tire
never retire 

Soldier ants
astride plants
reach the sap
almost asap 

Admirable
a miracle !!