Saturday, January 22, 2011

Panbazar

[it is with much trepidation that i am about to paste on this page, the following poem. it is about my most favourite place in the entire city--Panbazar. For anyone acquainted with Guwahati, this is one of the most familiar of places. historically laden, scenting of books, Panbazar is a living story of Guwahati's past. of course, the following composition is my tribute to this beautiful place...]

smell of books
ideas wafting all over,
honks and soot
the muezzin’s call
students...smiling shining
readers...poring over books
madhu channawallah selling his wares
a lone cow grazing in from nowhere
lovers sharing panipuris
cars and bikes cycles and rickshaws walkers
all in a mad scramble
in this gulley of books,
there is no space for tears
memories whisper secrets
the old nods at the new
Murphy Radio smiles in reminiscence
 College Studio clicks on…
 crystallizing moments on reel
Colourful magazines hail you
Pavement book stalls, 
adda points
where ideas merge with love,
where hatred diffuses in harmony.
summery mornings, wintry afternoons, rainy sunsets
Panbazar takes it all...


Saturday, January 15, 2011

ennui

ennui
settles
like cobwebs
on a restless mind,

where skies blush no longer--
on mornings, nor on evenings.

untold fears explode
unheard cries cascade, and torment
unseen emotions
lurk like venom, beneath the sheen

silence swathes the world
creating,
little islands.

To Sethe, with love

Naked tree on a field of coal
Festers of pain
Gagged cries…

The tree rots with time
as wrinkles blot a strange face
wizened with servitude.

(for Sethe from Toni Morrison's Beloved)

Chastity


ribbon of sunlight
descending on a solitary road
ensheaths a poor child, afraid...
lest the dirty eyes of a passing car
Devour its innocence.




Silence

Silence hangs in the air
as an emaciated wintry sun
plunges into the River,
Splashing orange on red-blue.
Silence screeches...