Observation

What would our friend Sisyphus do
if someone stole his precious rock?
My guess is he would continue
his usual uphill and downhill walk.

I see him push back his unruly hair
as I walk endlessly, aimlessly, alone.
I press my palms against invisible air
Sisyphus, at least, has his trusty stone.

I Want

I am a simple girl, who wants simple things
like the Sun, the Moon, and all the Stars…
No! Do not smile till I have finished!
This is not one of those witty poems where
people say something and mean something else
Talking about the Sun and Moon, I want them
to stay put where they are, and keep doing
what they’ve become so good at over the years.

I quite like they way they divide their work
It’s the only way they could co-exist so long
The orange sun winking through the clouds
to wake me up, and then making the roads so hot
that I am glad to have a place to hide from it.
And then chucking my chin in the evening
to make sure I am not angry at it, and leaving
only when I am smiling at its fading redness.

The moon meanwhile hides somewhere in the sky,
not wanting to steal the Sun’s thunder; for even
on the brightest day there are people who admire
beauty that is subtler. When the Sun gone
the Moon hesitantly steps in, and willingly takes
a backseat if I have a candle or suchlike
You’d think being meek would be easy, but
the Moon tires and wanes, so we also have Stars.

How nice it would be if we could invite the
Sun and Moon and Stars for a conference
and serve them coffee, (iced for the Sun, please).
They would teach us management better than
ponytailed professors ever could. And perhaps
when we have learnt to be beautiful together
and give up dividing the indivisible skies
we would manage to get some work done.

Guruprasad Udupi

The comely girl absent-mindedly dips
a chunk of idli in the sambhar bowl,
while the awkward lad silently sips
buttermilk, and swallows a chilli whole.

Two tables away, the parents have begun
talk of what would be a suitable day,
sure their child will approve of this one
and feel glad at having had a say.

On the wall, the management's comments
are lost in the crowd of a dozen signs:
"We make all marriage arrangements."
And so caterers further cosmic designs.

Three years hence, the couple will be back
and order two thalis, and Baby will cry:
passed back and forth in its blanket pack.
And food will get cold while the poppadums fly.

Secrets

In Amma’s cupboard behind
the neatly stacked petticoats
your curious fingers will find
a bundle of crinkly notes

Not the currency kinds; she
does not care to stash
money, for in our family
we hide feelings, not cash

Therefore, good sense abiding,
you’ll put them back unread.
For you too have notes hiding
under your unmade bed.

The Patient

It can be very embarrassing
to sit outside the doctor’s clinic
(between a man with a splinter in his thumb
and a woman with a mote in her eye),
waiting to be treated for a grazed soul

Cupid shoots arrows half-heartedly in all directions these days.

AMuseum

I gently walked into the museum hall
Second left, then second right
The dome above made me feel so small
I looked up at its starless night

Another left, and there it stood
The relic they had praised to the skies
One man’s tribute to human-hood
Displayed here for the whole world’s eyes

I stood and gazed, not quite spellbound
Trying to see what made it great
Curious, I ventured next to walk around
I observed, till it grew quite late

A million catalogues had screamed
I “just had to” see this matchless work of art
So many friends had always dreamed
Of a glimpse that would soothe the saddest heart

The sculpture’s upturned eyes were grey
Gazing at the starless night above
I turned my back and gently walked away
From Exhibit 15CFS: Love

Baby Show

I recently was witness to a Baby Show
With Dads and Moms with kids in tow

Brimming with pride, an eager sire
Held forth his baby for me to admire

“How pretty! How sweet!” he himself said
Me, I found the cherub far too red

“How very angelic!” everyone cried
“Now see mine! Now mine!” they vied

Babies were held forth one by one all morn
As I watched, I wondered how they were born

Some of maidens in towers long locked-up
Some of strumpets accidentally knocked up

Sired by sinners and sired by saints
Some early prayers, some late complaints

Babies of all shapes and almost all sizes
The organizers gave them all lovely prizes

I smiled at the darlings, and pulled a cheek
And turned away from those gruesome and weak

By the time I left, the pain had gone wild
I came home and delivered a stillborn child

Truth is...

So dark, so bright
Like a rainy night
So bound, so free
Like poetry

+

She:
When your fingers lock with mine
Five and five make one
Sometimes we must redefine
The rules of addition

He:
You can hold my hand and not let go
But my spirit wanders free
A part of me you’ll never know
Our one and one is three

Bartender

(Inspired by the following lines from the Heretic: Love only lasts for strangers/ who met when the night was younger)

Madam are you expecting a friend?
I’m really getting late
My wife complains it’s become a trend
I’m not up to a debate

But it’s a great job I’ve landed here
Make some good money too
Here’s your…well let’s see…seventh beer
And the last, I must beg you

Arm in arm kids crowd around
I mix each one a drink
The music’s loud, it drowns the sound
Of how young lovers think

Later at night the gentlemen arrive
With the “ladies” around town
Blue Label makes our business thrive
And lets their gelled hair down

The last ones in are the lonely hearts
Trickling in hunched up to mope
Some broken often, in various parts
And shattered past all hope

A gentleman just looked in and left
Was he the one you sought?
Bald? Or should I say hair-bereft
Not him? I should’ve thought

You sure he’s coming? It’s awfully late
And I have to close up soon


They never keep the late night date
With old stars under the new moon

Business Reopens for the Evening

Makkhan Singh lolled in his chair
A fly buzzed perched on his nose
Heaps of laddoos were everywhere
But the fly cared not for those

With one half open eye our friend
Observed the adventurous fly
One thwack put its adventure to end
And it fell among laddoos to die

‘Flies! What a bother!’ Makkhan cried
‘This time of year when business is good
The management should use pesticide
Instead of burning sandalwood’

At four he rose and sounded the conch
And eager devotees broke the queue
Money was showered on the idol’s paunch
And each devotee got a laddoo

Vocation

I love you, my dearest daughter
I moulded you in my own fire
I’ll change wine back to water
If that’s your heart’s desire

Carry the spark far and wide
Take time to return to the fold
I’ll wait up here while you decide
Gods, at least, don’t grow old

Find your lamp and light it
Millions in darkness await you
And if there’s a gale, fight it
I caused it, and not because I hate you

(A vocation in life to all. Amen.)

Palmystery

Holding my hand against the light
I see lines few others would spot
A burnt trail (the saucepan was hot)
An old gash from a childish fight

Bite marks from a stifled scream
Nail semicircles on a nervous palm
Razor marks untreated with balm
Prints from a hand-holding dream

Fortune-tellers will never know
What lines decide how fate must go

..

There is an undetected crack
In the construction
Between the first and second floors
Of the universe
The sun does not shine into the crack
On most days
It is a dark space with no reason to exist

I live there
The undetected crack in the construction
Between yesterday
Which I hold responsible for all my mistakes
And tomorrow
Which does not let the sun shine on me
On most days

...

My podgy little index finger
Was still warm
And moist
From being held in your hand

It gripped an iron rail
I felt it grow strong
And cold
The day I learned to stand

Bug

.
Shh!
Don’t Move!

There
Is
A
Bug
On
Your
Collar

THWACK!

Gone.

You are welcome!

So, what were you saying?
You’re through with me?

File > New

The cursor throbs
Against the white screen
The tease beckons me
To tell all to Microsoft Word

As if by blackening the screen I will become white again.

Hiding

.
When I remember what I have done
I block my thoughts
And shut my eyes tight
And cover my eyelids with my palms
And my palms with my knees
And the whole with a blanket

But the blanket is covered
With a sticky sense of guilt
Which oozes through the layers
Reminding me it is useless
To try and shut out
Something that is within

Blabber

To cleave
Is to join
And also to part
Isn’t that smart?

Twenty years
We have cleaved
Mind and heart
Together. And apart.

Like a sticker
Pulled off once
And in vain
Stuck again

Sair

Raat gyarah baje
Amma ke saath sair pe nikli

“Koi jo tumhein samjhega
Wahi tumse shaadi karega
Bachpana chhod do ab”

Haarsingaar ka phool
Haath mein kuchalte hue
Maine kuchh nahin kaha

Ghar aake dekha
Haath peeley ho gaye hain

The Day After

Black half moons cup my eyes
My guilty hands weigh down my arms
It looked like daring enterprise
But time dissolved the quixotic charms

I will swallow the unborn scream
And of the deed leave not a sign
I will sleep, and I will dream
And in that dream all will be fine

Simile

Thinking of you
Is like running a finger
Along the jagged edges
Of an old Tupperware lid
While talking on the phone
With a consultant
About money

Make-Believe

I painted a sheet black
And cut up some silver bits
I pinned up the silver and the black
And across the ceiling it sits

When I flash the torch at night
The silver beams back at me
I have not seen a sky
But this is what a sky must be

I looked at you when you didn’t know
And painted you in my head
I smiled when I saw you happy
And your sorrow left me dead

In my dreams you see me too
Holding hands, you walk with me
I have not seen love
But this is what love must be

Mid-Day Ramblings

Busy ants made a palace of grit
And the mountains laughed at the audacity of it

In small ellipses the moths did flit
And the planets smiled at the audacity of it

The glow worms on the branch did sit
And the stars frowned at the audacity of it

A condemned man’s throat was slit
And the Lord wept at the audacity of it

Just Scribbling

This girl was less than more alright
Busy people never saw it at first sight
But if you took a close, hard look
Your poor little heart would surely be shook
This was none of your minor complications
She had four heads: pointing in four directions!

East and West and North and South
She spoke to each with a different mouth
If that’s not already tough to swallow
She did not know which nose to follow
Tempted to run four simultaneous races
She mostly fell flat on one of her faces

Advice from elders and wisdom from seers
Poured into one head from eight eager ears
Perceptions were morphed and tangled inside
Living by fours where one should reside
She could see four sides to everything in life
And all the four sides were constantly at strife

Never sure whether she was coming or going
She became ill-willed and tantrum-throwing
Unable to escape the multiplicity ghost
She finally stood still and became a signpost
There she stands, watching the world go by
Two faces smile, and two of them cry

Jottingz

With what elan they thrust and parried
Till money won, and love miscarried
I often wonder who is more harried
The one he cheated, or the one he married?

Wondering

My eyelids are heavy and my smiles are brittle
Have I slept too long and dreamt too little?

Midnight Ramblings

Air-blown kisses are just that: Air
Promises made to be broken are fair
The only smiles that last
Are those in iron cast
And stolen glances don’t mean you care