I am your shadow
I shall follow you
Everywhere
Please don't step on me
***
We drive past the black and alluvial soil
From the ST bus we gaze out
We see paddy
Rabbi and kharif
We see hunch-backed shadows
Tilling the land
We see hectares of green
That shall be cement, soon
The jester at the back of the bus, says
What if we plant a few jokes
And cultivate laughter
***
Did you know
As this nation of ours, readies for the future
We grow powerfuller and powerfuller
Everyone hypnotised
In all this, no one watches the overcast sky
The night's fall
All dark
If we had been watchful
We would realise the Siberian Cranes have not entered our land
This winter
As they have not
For the past ten winters
***
Where are my tears?
I wipe them with the leaves on the tree
Here there is no dust
How will I scribble your name, now?
***
What if we plant a few jokes
And cultivate laughter
***
Did you know
As this nation of ours, readies for the future
We grow powerfuller and powerfuller
Everyone hypnotised
In all this, no one watches the overcast sky
The night's fall
All dark
If we had been watchful
We would realise the Siberian Cranes have not entered our land
This winter
As they have not
For the past ten winters
***
Where are my tears?
I wipe them with the leaves on the tree
Here there is no dust
How will I scribble your name, now?
***
You stand at the Arthur Road Jail gate, come in,
A cutting chai for you
Step out of that world
Welcome to freedom
Except she has gone out to play
***
When Mohammed Rafi passed away
They buried his songs in a cemetery in Juhu
His tomb has disappeared, along with grey-white pigeons, sparrows, a few ravens
Who flew off with all his voice
Higher, higher into the clouds
A gift for the devas and gandharvas
Today, all that remains
In that grave yard is
A coconut tree
A dilapidated radio
Vividh Bharati
And a deaf and dumb man who hums the tunes, silently
***
The perwinkles watch her
Climbing onto a rickety ladder
That is propped on the moon
She holds her arms, upwards
Holding the sky with her tiny fists
Preventing it from crushing
The flowers in her garden
***
He waits in prison
All is quiet
Through the shut window
He hears the rain
He hears the wind wheeze
He hears temple bells
Sometimes he hears the grass growing
The birth pangs of a rainbow in the horizon
A cutting chai for you
Step out of that world
Welcome to freedom
Except she has gone out to play
***
When Mohammed Rafi passed away
They buried his songs in a cemetery in Juhu
His tomb has disappeared, along with grey-white pigeons, sparrows, a few ravens
Who flew off with all his voice
Higher, higher into the clouds
A gift for the devas and gandharvas
Today, all that remains
In that grave yard is
A coconut tree
A dilapidated radio
Vividh Bharati
And a deaf and dumb man who hums the tunes, silently
***
The perwinkles watch her
Climbing onto a rickety ladder
That is propped on the moon
She holds her arms, upwards
Holding the sky with her tiny fists
Preventing it from crushing
The flowers in her garden
***
He waits in prison
All is quiet
Through the shut window
He hears the rain
He hears the wind wheeze
He hears temple bells
Sometimes he hears the grass growing
The birth pangs of a rainbow in the horizon
They need no gate pass
To enter his solitary cell
As and when they want to
And start waltzing over his head
***
This poem tells me
I feel incomplete
***
The raincloud tells the umbrella
It’s only water, not blood
***
To enter his solitary cell
As and when they want to
And start waltzing over his head
***
This poem tells me
I feel incomplete
***
The raincloud tells the umbrella
It’s only water, not blood
***
When I met Dr Saab
He told me, I am merely on my deathbed
Don’t make a formal speech
As though you’re at my funeral
***
Do stones encounter humidity?
If yes, do they also complain?
***
The watchman
Watches Garma Garma Hot Hot
And Jism Ki Angdai on his handheld
Perched on his chair
Under the neem tree
When he is weary
Once every 30 minutes
He walks around the colony
His hometown lathi in beat
That goes dhaa tirikita
Dhaa, ga, ge, gi, ka, ke, dhi, dhin
The incandescence of the tala
Scares intruders
And makes my tabla jealous
***
One day, we shall walk together
You and I
***
One day, we shall walk together
You and I
On the road to nowhere
To pass the time
En route
To pass the time
En route
We will vacuum away all the sand on the beach
***
You who do not believe in all my ideologies
My words, they do not exist in your dictionary
My cause that seems so hopeless, to you
Yet you do not want me to be martyred
Why do you want to exit before me?
***
I have put a giraffe in an envelope
Posted it to your home address
When you receive the giraffe
Provide him a big bed, a blanket and a cup of coffee
Remember to tickle his feet every morning
He is weary because he has grown up
Please teach him how to smile
***
You who do not believe in all my ideologies
My words, they do not exist in your dictionary
My cause that seems so hopeless, to you
Yet you do not want me to be martyred
Why do you want to exit before me?
***
I have put a giraffe in an envelope
Posted it to your home address
When you receive the giraffe
Provide him a big bed, a blanket and a cup of coffee
Remember to tickle his feet every morning
He is weary because he has grown up
Please teach him how to smile
Like you
***
On the day I died
I realised my future
Was a certainty
Finally
***
I realised my future
Was a certainty
Finally
***
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