Madwomen of Girjapur

They came in various shapes
Ages , sighs , size and shades

They sat on the ground
Producing strange sound

They also sat on chairs
and sat picking lice from hairs

They cackled
and laughed

Some sat mum,
head hanging glum,

Some suddenly began beating
their shrivelled breast
giving an opening
for chaotic babel in rest

Some nodded gravely
at passers by
almost sanely
before giving speech a try

They appeared sane
and then wandered
into thickets of cane ,
of thoughts tangled

Impenetrable jungle
forbidding and dark
So dense is the tangle
dont mistake it for a park

You may get lost in there
never
to recover
forever

They will claim ancestry
of this king and that mantri
they will talk smoothly
of communications with firefly

 Don't be converted to their
religion
clucking your
sympathies like hen

watch out before
you slip into the den
of Girjapur('s)
madwomen

Blessings

The carriage had sat there for so long that they had completely forgotten the day , it had been towed there , and left .

 Getting wet in the rain , baking in the blistering sun , its shiny window panes , shattered one by one , the paint peeled off , and grass grew in patches on the roof . The doors were locked , but boys , being boys , had discovered a way of wriggling themselves inside the carriage , and playing hide and seek , producing ghost sounds , putting their lips against closed window shutters . Wind whistled through gaps in the floor , and they called to each other through the bathroom door. 

Some times , they would be spied by some worker in the work yard , and stopping in midst of sending showers of sparks down , pushing his welding helmet up , a multi lingual oath would be hurled in their direction , and they would scamper off. The oath would be untranslatable, as the workers came in from other states. But the intent was clear , and the boys didn’t want trouble . 

It was fun , so long as it lasted , which was their entire childhood . Both were roughly eight years old , and the coach was their plaything , for so long as they remembered. 

On a sunny day , some workers , in their greasy overalls, came picking their teeth with blades of grass , and looked at the coach . The doors were opened , the roosting pigeons chased out , and they pointed and talked . Talked and looked at the coach from all the sides . They looked at it , touched it , knocked it here and there , as if it were a cattle for sale . 

That afternoon , two white clad , official looking people , came and saw the coach and made some important scribblings in the notepads they held in their hands. 

The very next day ,the work started. They came armed with sheets of tin , to weld with yellow rubber gloved hands , and acetylene torches that singed and smoked and sent zinging sparks . Carpenters hammered away at the seats inside . New seats were installed , and shutters repaired . Cans of paint lay waiting on the grass. 

Sitting far way , dangling their legs from a concrete staircase on the platform , one boy asked the other ” What would have happened actually ?" 

They were quite troubled at the transformation their plaything was undergoing . 

The other, older kid, thought for some time  , chewing his wad of tobacco , stolen from his uncle's pouch, then spat  thin , yellow spittle onto the tracks , before expounding " Its got blessings , you fool !!" 

Online shopping for sweets

आज हमें फेसबुक पर
मिला एक ऐसा ऑफर

कहते हैं करो सफर
यत्र तत्र अपने शहर

शौक से मिठाई भोजन
का तुम करो सेवन

सिर्फ पैसे चुकाना  हमें तुम
न एटीएम बल्कि पे टी म

हम बड़े खुश हुए
मोगाम्बो से हँसते हुए

हमने क्लिक किया कलकत्ता
देख सुन , पढ़ कर हमें लगा पता

की यहाँ तो काफी है गोरख धंधा 
सारी पेज को गंगूराम ने ख़रीदा

मिठाई सारी महँगी निकली
तो नमकीन की तरफ नज़र की

पता चला यहाँ भी दाल नहीं गली
बिक चुकी थी झालमुरी ,सेव वाली

एक दो के टॉप दुकानों ने आम
बन्दों की बंद कर दी थी दूकान

कहाँ चले थे सन्देश खाने
हाथ भी न लगे चार दाने

 रसगुल्ले, लेडीकेनी, से मायूस होकर
हम ने रुख किया लखनऊ की ओर

सोचा नवाबों के शहर को बखशा होगा
कहीं तो टुंडे कबाब अभी भी मिलता होगा

कोई इमरती , कोई पान नहीं छोड़ा
हमारे उम्मीदों के घड़ों को जबरन तोडा

पुणे की गलियों की फारसान गायब
मुम्बई का बॉम्बे डक का दो हिसाब

ओ फेसबुक पेज बनाने वाले
ऊपरवाला देखता है साले

कोई तो  धर्म कर, थोड़ी  तो शर्म कर
केरल के चिप्स का दाम कम कर

कुछ आम चीज़ों , आम दुकानों
का नाम लिख डाल , अपने अपनों

पर रहम करो,  हमारे कड़की पर
थोड़ा तो हो मीठे स्वाद का असर।

Be brave

“Be brave ” My folks whispered into my ears , as I lay gasping next to beeping monitors .
“Be brave” I whispered into my daughter’s ears , when she had to stand at the same bus stop , where she had been eave-teased yesterday.
“Be brave” Shouted the instructor , as we climbed slippery rocks.
“Be brave” , Drilled my inner voice , as I braved catcalls on my way to college , every single day .
“Be brave” , said my mother simply , as I wept after my daughter left for college.
“Be brave”, I consoled myself , when tears sprung , burning , salty , every time I bade my spouse goodbye , on a smoky , dusty platform.
“Be brave” I scolded my maid when she talked to her 5 year old on phone , and went sullen , speechless.
“Be brave”, I chided me , when I crossed the same crossing , where I skidded last week , bruising myself.
“Be brave”, The freezing night wind thundered into my ears , as I stood on the balcony , gazing at the horizon ,3 a.m., in the morning.

Infidelity

What was that again ?
What went wrong ?
What did you say ? The concert stands cancelled ?
What could have possibly happened ?
What , what , what ?
Whats flew around like buzzing bees , the air was thick with them . It was then that she noticed what was bothering him . Not that the concert was cancelled , but that he wont see her again .
It made a knot appear in her intestines . A gut wrenching pain that spread to her heart , her limbs. It was a mighty shock . She felt numb and faint . As if a truck her run over her . How naive she had been !
All those moments of suspicion coming true! Of feigned illnesses and business trips , of exchanged glances at gatherings , all of which her heart kept sweeping under the carpet , shutting her eye to. Refusing to believe what her eye saw , what her inner voice kept tugging her sleeve about.

It was all about  the girl , never about her . She saw it now , through clear , unclouded eyes . She went to the balcony , and took huge gulps of air to keep herself from erupting into a scream . She was choking , drowning . 

This was not what she had bargained for . How could he ?How had she been deceived ? How could she have been so dense? How could she not see? Oh , Oh!! 

All the whats had now metamorphosed into hows , now that she knew the truth . 

Doves

It is a popular belief that doves are very peaceful.

They adorn every peace emblem , from United Nations to neighbourhood peace committees . They are even made to carry a pair of laurel wreaths , for good measure ; as if the burden of being peaceful was not enough . By the way , I have seen quite a few doves , in the short span of time spent in my new abode , which abounds in a species called (for some strange reason ) Eurasian Collared Dove .

From what I gather , neither do they seem to exhibit any fondness for laurel wreaths , nor are they the  avian apostles of peace , that they have been made out to be . Neither are the doves (at least, the ones I talk of ) , of the milky white feathers , as depicted in numerous statues / paintings / logos , world wide.

They emit a mournful "whoooo-whoo " cry , which unlike the sharpness of  owls" too-hoo" , is long drawn out , and complaining at the best . It can't stand giving an inch of its territory , even to passersby,  like drongos. Only yesterday , I saw a slow-moving (always sluggish ) dove "chase" a pair of drongos from its roof-top perch , "whooo"ing all the while .

Going by avian behaviour , it is not well-mannered either , like mynahs , who watch each others backs. Neither is it gregarious , like the sparrow , or the bulbul , or even the opportunistic crow for that matter .

It keeps to its solitary self and is seen keeping aloof even from its closest brethren , the pigeon .

That does not stop it from grabbing the abandoned nests of mynahs , pigeons and other hard-working birds , and using it for propagation of one's own species.

Yerwada

The gong sounded twice in a day .

Two meals in a day , for two thousand inmates. 

They came shuffling , like hordes of insects. Skeletal frames , dressed in grey . Loose grey frocks , which bared their thin , bony legs and shoulders . Their bony , impassive faces , uniform in their collective misery. They all held a battered aluminium plate. It resembled them . Battered , bent and worn-out. Each was served gloopy grey slop , that leaked from the holes in their plates . It was eaten with fingers and licked from plates , like famished animals .

It was a singularly dismal place. They said it was a women’s shelter cum juvenile centre. It had all the appearance of a concentration camp . 

One of the most dismal places on the planet earth.