Little Recollections

1.
i remember as a child
spending most of Sundays with my family
papa would take us to Juhu beach
where i would then take a camel or a horse ride
or we would eat out at night followed by paan
and a tangy masala soda called rimzim
the paan-wala was renowned in our part of the city
there would be a long queue of bachelors, or
middle aged men posing to be young at heart
my papa would order our 'mitha'
and wait patiently with his hands on the hips
the paan wala would make every paan with elan
and chat with some of his old customers
my papa was one of them
he would look around the lil shop
the paan wala had also displayed some perfumes
and my papa a lover of fragrances
would pick up 'Bruts' and 'Charlies'

Prayful notes

on a familiar evening
in a spacious hall
resonating with hymns and devotional songs
voices austere and souls calm
the square hall reverberates with energy
old wisdom, knowledge casts its presence
the soul dances to the tunes of the swamiji
the head bows before the deity
palms folded to receive the sweet prasadam

Wings of magic

Everytime I'm feeling down
I can feel an angel by my side
it comes and whispers in my ears
o cheer up.. there's no need to fear
every time I'm feeling low
I can see an angel with a bright halo
it flitters its wings and flies
brushing my arms saying there's no need to cry
an angel with a warm heart of gold
lending its strength to me when I'm low
I know my angel is always around me
more than any earthly 24X7 service,
nor does it twitter no have have a face
We gotto live it up, don't worry,
We all have an angel by our side.

Many shades of a word

may be....
in may
i may
fill this page
or i may not
as my mind is astray
but i will as mind says 'you may'
in may.....

la di da of life

papaadeedada...la di da...
the music of life
would you look at me twice
nay, don't you look behind
i'm right in front of you!
don't you crane your neck
i'm right in front of you
even if you turn left or right
i'm in front of youuuuuu...

Aching espirit

most of us know what homesickness is
we have a word for it in English
but do we have a word for that feeling....
the feeling where the spirit craves to explore the unknown
to set off on a journey, meet new folks, hear another tongue
the feeling of disorientation, when you return from a long journey,
the unsatiated spirit yearns for more.....
whats that word?? the closest dictionary word is 'wanderlust'..
the word derived from the Anglo- Saxon roots
but the word they did'nt borrow from the Germans
the word that carries the true essence of the feeling,
an aching espirit and itching feet... is 'fernweh'

The Bombay Comedy

As I cross the length and breadth of the city of Mumbai,
I am starkly reminded of Dante's Divine Comedy
I feel at once in hell, purgatory and heaven
hell seems to have broken loose as I see
mangroves laced with polythenes, standing amidst the toxic waters of murdered rivers
the stench of urinated n paan stained walls
the slimy mucous drops on railway platforms
gives the feeling ur not living in a city but a mucous membrane
we have seemed to have entered purgatory - the road between heaven and hell-
with the local municipal corp taking many corrective steps
encouraging arty youngsters to come out with paint brushes to paint the city walls
projects such as the metro , the cleaning of the Mithi river
clearing the railway quarters for more fruitful development
the sea link project on in top gear
the flamingoes still flock the Sewri wetlands
the leopards still trapse the encroached natural park
the skeletal Bombay mills still stand tall,
craving for attention
the lost caves of Kanheri and Mahakali battling for survival
im not sure if 'Mumbai''s destiny is to be another shanghai
but with the culture and flora and fauna much more diverse
we deserve nothing less than 'Paradise'