Freedom met Hope and other poems

1.
She decided to become a poet
Write beautiful songs

That night
Her knee-length black hair
Turned whitish grey
Even as she slept


2.
Truth is discoverable
But is truth a he? Or a she?
Perhaps deception?
Or a game we're losing


3.
Freedom met Hope
In the back seat of a ST bus
They started a relationship 
When Hope paid for the bus ticket
This led to marriage
They travelled
Sometimes standing
Sometimes on top of the bus
Moving from one town to another

One day, Hope was abandoned
Was informed, "Mr H, Utopia is not healthy
Our people encounter grief"
They want fishes
To fly
Instead of swim

Freedom was not permitted to accompany Hope
She continued with her nomadic life
Given the nature of the times
She frequently changed places of residence
Took up temporary causes

One day, there was a knock on the door
That's when she fled
Forever


4.
He holds a photograph
Of a village near Hingni 
That may vanish, in entirety, in a space of a few days
Due to 558 registered suicides (so far)
This year

More people die of smallpox and snake bites
He says, with a smile


5.
Accursed questions: when will you stop asking them
Asked the ruler
As he flogged the sea waves
For disobeying his diktat

Raga Daes on the surbahar

1.
The shrub told the tree
Can I sit in your lap?


2.
Daily
She feeds toast to 99 pigeons
Named after the 100 Kauravas
Duhsala is missing
Since she prefers French Fries

3.
So, the story is, Krishna was asked by Saraswati
How much taalim do you do to woo these pretty gopis?


4.
Once upon a time, Ampersand was the 27th alphabet
Till Z nudged it out of the last place in the English lexicon


5.
The day, mother played Raga Daes on the surbahar
The tree outside her window decided to scent its flowers

To sit on a stone and six other shorts

1.
Oh, how many smiles
Did she not smile, today


2.
Is there anything more tragic than a man
Who chews paan
Instead of swallowing the betel juice
Spits on himself in the mirror


3.
What happens to an unfinished story ...


4.
My dad is better than yours
Since he can put his ears to the sand
And predict the exact moment
Low tide becomes high tide


5.
The tree is dead
Do we burn it
Along with the other dead trees
On the funeral pyre


6.
The way mother
Wraps a saree around her hips
Reminds him of an algebra sum
Unsolved

7.
To sit on a stone
Watch the grass grow

A compass that helps find happiness

1.
A collection of 143 types sarees with a matching set of blouse
Four cats, three maids, two cars
And a husband

2.
The judge's eyes widened
When the prosecutor sang a libretto in the court
As part of his petition

3.
Shoeless
She enters the room
With ayurvedic herbs in her hair

4.
Whenever I open my eyes after a particularly troublesome night of ponder
My first thought is
I hope the neighbour has not stolen the newspapers
Yet again

5.
When guru one came face to face with guru two
In the airport lounge
There was silence

6.
Did you know
Little B has shifted his penis to his little finger
Whensoever he wants to do susu
He puts his hand out of the train window
And does so

7.
In the kitchen, she stood
Wondering what the Bhagvad Gita said
About adding sugar-free to gaajar ka hawla


8.
You have let us down, said my parents to me
I wonder why
As I read their post-card in the andaa cell
At Yerawada Jail


9.
While 
He yearned for a kiss from her sweet lips
She pined for Nalli Nahari in desi ghee

10.
The dowry demand said: a compass that helps find happiness

Adam and Eve

What if it hadnt worked out for 
Adam and Eve on their blind date

Oh, to simply collect laughter instead of bonsais

1.
Oh, if only the thrash walked itself to the door, and emptied itself, everyday

2.
Oh, to write short stories in one language and dream in another

3.
Oh, to find a molehill inside the mountain

4.
Oh, to ask the pastor how many false "I do" has he presided over

5.
Oh, why does he open his eyes, every time I shut mine

6.
Oh, why did I pay heed to my parents when they told me not to interrupt when grown-ups are talking (as a result, I've not uttered a word for the past 44 years)

7.
Oh, will it be possible to stand on the moon and look into the window of my house with a powerful telescope

8.
Oh, to hear the sound of a pen on a cheque being made out for me

9.
Oh, what would we have done, if someone had not invented suburbs

10.
Oh, to simply collect laughter instead of bonsais 

Alternative endings to my life and other shorts

1.
When she got down on her knees
To propose to an ant
She crushed it


2.
A young I questions me
Don’t you think this tale could have played out better
I asks me


3.
My little girl is growing up
She plays hopscotch
Between Paraguay, Angola and Papua New Guinea


4.
I dip a spoon into the caramel custard at the café
On the next table, a newly-wed couple
Are planning to conceive a baby


5.
It would be nice to be chaperoned
Especially during broken dreams


6.
How many flies in this country?
Millions? Billions?
We need a census report


7.
When
The greatest of leaders
Lay still in his a/c coffin
In a nuclear bunker
He wondered: if he should get up
Put on his walking shoes
To take a pilgrimage to the pyre
As a final act of atonement


8.
Father and daughter watch TV
He thinks her clothing is bizarre
She feels the same about his ideology


9.
How about a national museum of pens
That have signed deals, death penalties, pacts, proposals
Conspiracies and farces


10.
I’ve discovered approximately 67 alternative endings to my life
Today's mission is: to search for one more