Five shorts from South East of K

1.
Two young lovers
Can't elope
Curfew in town, indefinite


2.
Who am I to complain, sahebji
Says the rickshawallah
Even our government
Runs on back-seat bickering


3.
Seven year old chained to a brick kiln
One way to prevent her
From stepping into her own
Kabrastan


4.
Said the CM
How I wish I was never elected
Someone else from my clan in-charge
Speechifying
To a community of rat-catching girls

While I slept
With coconut oil in my hair
And a massage for my back


5.
How much dust in dusty?
Said one town to the next