Mother and child

1.
The cloud stands still, poised
Time for its afternoon siesta

2.
Before I was born
I wrote the script of my life
Now, I improvise
Since life arranges itself

3.
In my times, the government would ban all newspapers
For causing anarchy
Among children below 18
Said Proudhon to me

4.
Buying a bus ticket is plebeian
If you pay in foreign currency
It could be noble dilettantism

5.
Who is this man, mother?
He is my husband, dear child

Freedom of expression and other shorts

1,
A really beautiful woman weeps
When the tears fall on the ground
The snow melts

2.
The river chases the wind
Turns around a bend
And drowns in the sea

3.
My old socks say
I think I am ageing
Please buy me brand-new shoes

4.
My dog envies me on one count
I can put my hands in my pocket
Whistling the Bohemian Rhapsody

5.
Why is it
During the maths exam
I dream about Kafka and his precursors

6.
Instead of the garage I administered 
A strong anaesthetic to my Tata Indica
Now she is fine


7.
They say
If you dip tea bags into the waves
Dolphins will dance the salsa

8.
From the 29th floor window
I see the city has fallen down
And fractured its knees

9.
True freedom of expression is
When she is permitted to wear knickers
And sashay her hips on the dark streets



10.
I'm rehearsing
I'm practising
So I can live life in the next one

One plus one is zero

One plus one is how many?
One replied, the student
How so, asked the teacher
Sort of bemused

Well, it's something like this
When the rivers Kannadipuzha 
And Kalapathipuzha come together
They form a confluence of one

Oh, said the class teacher
Then one plus one is zero
Since the Bharathapuzha is not a river
It has become a sewerage

At the end of the day

At the end of the day
I've seen one more sunset

At the end of the day
I wonder how many sunsets the sun has seen

At the end of the day
My skull, it aches, ineluctably

At the end of the day
My shoes have grown one day older

At the end of the day
I've sipped six litres of water instead of five

At the end of the day
I've spent one more minute in the cloakroom today

At the end of the day
I've to call the plumber since everything leaks

At the end of the day
I've learnt one new word that I won't recall tomorrow

At the end of the day
My newspaper informs me the Arab Spring is facing eastwards

At the end of the day
I realise a building obstructs my view to the east

At the end of the day
I want to have breakfast instead of dinner

At the end of the day
I can't

At the end of the day
Everything is determined by a rule book

At the end of the day
It is always someone else who has authored the rule book

At the end of a day
I'm always a bit poorer

At the end of the day
All of us are together, finally, as we try to fall asleep 

My daughter has grown up

My 19 year old said
I reject them
I discard them
Why? I asked

Its faded, sort of drab
Gone out of fashion
I've outgrown them
Adorned them for too long

You speak of your clothes, I ask
No ma, these are my ideas that are out of shape
Can you please find someone
Who will accept my left overs

The taste of freedom

The taste of freedom
He had forgotten

Until he saw a cafe
Crossroads, was its name
Where you had to petition
Your lunch order

Regular or medium?
Serve me a bloody thaali of the whole thing, he said
Plus a topping
Some side dish too

We've spoken to the authorities
They say, as a special case, you can have a tiny portion
Nothing is free, you see
In this free land of our

Either you pay for the meal
Or you cook the damn thing
Experience has taught us that too much of a good thing
Give the wretched of the land, a tummy upset

13 thoughts for the day

1.
The most important man-made discovery according to me is: red tapism

2.
Do trees shiver?
When they feel cold?
Do they also complain?

3.
I suspect there is a man
Seated in some office, somewhere
Who invents one rule per minute
Which the rest of us follow

4.
Jayant Mahapatra
Donated 4,000 books and magazines
A German typewriter, a camera, five cupboards
To the University in Balasore
Little did he know
That all of it would be secured under lock and key
Forever

5.
My money plant has a coronary heart disease
When I asked the fern
How did it happen
She replied I dont know
I suffer from Alzheimer

6.
This year, we solemnly swear to invest $1.3 trillion in Project Malthus so that we can officially register all the million instances of starvation in this country

7.
I wonder what is the life expectancy of an idea, these days

8.
How about a permanent RFID tag on the wrist that calculates the lewdness quotient among the male population

9.
Thanks to all the meetings I attend
My bottoms have become tough
Nothing is a pain in the arse
Anymore


10.
The sarpanch was worried
Three rivers attempting suicide
Should I report the matter
To the local tehsildar

11.
We plan to export a billion tear drops
Said the Minister
Of the newly formed
Department of Gloom and Doom

Its time to monetise our pessimism


12.
Instead of an agarbatti
They lit a cigarette in front of the local god
Who inhaled all the smoke
Blessed their injurious healths


13.
A thousand thoughts
Buzzing in my head
All worthless