Colombo
Impressions 3 - Better Food, and Some Conversation (4th September
2002)
All the while, I was struck by how mild, even naive, the people here
seemed, and how uncharacteristic it looked to an outsider that they should
indulge in anything resembling war...
Colombo
Impressions 2 - Food for Thought (21st August 2002)
The waiter was quite aghast at our absence of table manners when we
refused the newspaper and asked for the washbasin instead. The perplexed
fellow then led us to a steel sink where the vessels were being washed...
Colombo
Impressions 1 - Arrival (14th August 2002)
The resemblance to India seemed strong at that time, and we smiled
to ourselves, thinking we had not travelled far from home...
Back
to School (24th June 2002)
I belong to that half of the population whose memory of school is
mostly unpleasant, barring a few golden years in between...
Middling
(19th June 2002)
I saw a dog obsessed/With the scent of evil /Put his head/In a cardboard
box...
The
Lord of the Sorcerer's Stone (12th June 2002)
I think perhaps that there must be some fundamentally better way in
which to make a great movie out of a great book...
Saying
Goodbye (5th June 2002)
I sat at the window, looking out at vistas of Hong Kong spread below
me. We lived on an elevated road - you could take the steps from the road
below or use the elevator at the mall to reach our road...
19
Steps to Freedom (29th May 2002)
Come, make us a life/Smite our faded palms/With new lines of fate/Tear
the paper wall now...
Untitled
(8th May 2002)
How can I explain to you who are unafraid the meaning of fear?/It
starts with the elusive beast/Who lives around the corner of childhood...
Departure
(1st May 2002)
Sonu left that day, and it felt like the end of our world. Kikki and
I carried her heavy green army trunk down the three flights of stairs,
down to the hostel gate. The trunk was heavy and we would remember the
ache until long after...
Bombay
Vignettes (24th April 2002)
At 3:00 pm on St.Valentine's day, the pavement on Marine Drive glistens
in the heat. The sun glints through a few trees, and lights up the faces
of the innumerable young couples sitting along the promenade...
The
Solitary Chocolate (10th April 2002)
Behold him, single in the fridge/Yon solitary chocolate plain/Wrapped
and ribboned by himself/Waiting for the eater's gain...
The
Other Face of Truth (3rd April 2002)
His baubles are made from air and imitation/To pass off as gold and
immortality./He brings them as horses to rivers of belief/- The thirst
is a mirage that blinds them to water....
Getting
Out (27th March 2002)
I look out through blinded windows/At the grey rain lightly falling/-
An metaphor for the incessant, the eternal/Sprinkle of dreams on reality...
Grappling
with God (20th March 2002)
I have yet to come to terms with the idea of God and religion. I am
constantly struggling with giving a name to my system of beliefs. I seem
to move in circular fashion...
Finding
Answers in the Bookish Dark (13th March 2002)
The basement was scarcely visited, holding as it did books of a general
nature, unrelated to engineering or science. Still, it was the haunt of
our small literary gang...
The Night Adventure (27th February
2002)
"Will you tell us that story again, grandfather - the one about
the Night?" the children asked with the moon in their eyes...
On Looking Deep (20th February
2002)
A cylinder of glass encases/Liquid garnet of the darkest red./From
its lucent maroon depths/A thousand bubbles spring to life...
From China to Chennai (13th February
2002)
There are those who flinch at the idea of visiting a proper Indian
bazaar. They are repelled by the noise, the disorder and by the prospect
of jostling with the crowds...
Enduring a Day (6th February 2002)
The mornings here are bright enough/Sunshine captures dust in whimsical
rays/And leaves peace offerings at my door.
The
Temple of the Mother (16th January 2002)
At the heart of Auroville is the MatriMandir or "The Temple of
the Mother." The Mandir is a kind of meditation centre that houses
one of the biggest crystals in the world...
Something
Lost (9th January 2002)
I remember the sparrows nesting in the low loft/Where the Amar Chitra
Kathas lay,/And the old red mirror/Tied to the window with string.
Against
Forced Patriotism (26th December 2001)
Why must one always write with favour towards one's country?
Morpheus,
God of Dreams (19th December 2001)
Dreams are our first connection with the magic of the world. They
come to us cloaked in a strange half-light, theatrical and real at the
same time...
A
Song for Winter (12th December 2001)
These white muslin curtains flutter at night/Sight new visions in
their folds of gauze
The
Love Bromide (5th December 2001)
Love, the romantic kind, is a cliché these days. I flinch inwardly
anytime I have to describe my marriage as a "love marriage."
A
Wedding Gift (21st November 2001)
Drums will resound in diamond ears,/Silk creases will interrupt your
view,/As you clutch rose petals and rice/Step on your neighbour's feet
An
Apparition (14th November 2001)
While I danced that night/A slice of light/Slipped into the corner of
my eye
My Gods and Devils (7th November 2001)
"Writing is the only religion I know and follow./My temple is
in the pillars of type,/My altar through the doors of syllables."
The Comic Papers (24th October
2001)
What I like most about such focussed newspapers is the number of ads
they carry. I am a self-confessed ad junkie, my eyes typically pass over
big headlines (Osama who?) and come to rest on obscure boxes of spiel...
Not
Poetry Again (17th October 2001)
The most important thing about poetry is that not all of it has to
do with words. An important part of poetry is having a special way of
looking at life...
Dawn
(10th October 2001)
Strands of hair get under my eyelids/Get in the way of my drowsy mind/And
refuse to leave gently ...
The Elements (3rd October 2001)
There is a tightness in my wrists that makes my bracelets turn/And show
their cruel faces of gold.
A
Seasonal Fruit (26th September 2001)
This time the mangoes in our garden/Ripened at the edge of sweetness
Meeting
Proteus (19th September 2001)
At the snake park last year/We saw chameleons in a bush./"10
of them," they told us,/"And no one has ever seen them all."
