On moving into Ridgewood

They work hard and walk harder,
Sometimes they run, their dogs too.
Twice daily morning and evening.
I see them daily.
After they get off the elevator
down from their multistoried civilised apartments.
Their degree of civilised -ness certified by the trail
of strong perfume left behind in the elevator.
Their civilised existence at times, however punctured
by loud alcohol infused profanities past midnight.
Multistoried complexes hiding multilayered complexities.
Their dogs are civilsed too, they do not bark or poop
in the perfectly manicured children's park or on well laid asphalt roads.
Children's park, where only old men practice pranayam in the morning
and old women discuss their daughter in laws in the evenings.
Children what children?

A general quota, well meaning doctor
once pointed at my high cholesterol, sugar and some such levels
and quipped that i was running towards death.
I humbly ask, they who work hard and walk harder,
Sometimes they run, their dogs too,
twice daily morning and evening,
who stay in multistoried civilised apartments
are they running towards life?

Ice cubes, Cake and Bread (roti)

On the first peg, Camus, Kafka, Sartre and Foucault

On the second peg, Dante, Neruda, Ginsberg and Picasso

On the third, Freud, Marx, Mayakovsky , and Daniken –

                         Mixing them with ice cubes,

                         Sipping luxuriously,

                         Not noticing,

                         When had the clock struck midnight.

But we have noted,

That, in his house, he has two dogs

Two servants, and a full moon,

And the dogs eat cake,

While, the servants, burnt bread (roti).

- Translated from Souvik Bandhopadhay's poem

I dont need your civil war

I have always been a strong supporter of violence as a means of achieving ideology based political ends but what we are witnessing is outright barbarism. Look at our nation…civilians fighting Government, Government hoodwinking civilians, politicians looting the common man, Hindu fighting Muslim, northeast fighting the rest of the country, rest of the country fighting the northeast, northeast fighting amongst themselves, regional parties fighting the central government, central government looting the nation, one dynastic family showing the middle finger to the entire nation, handful of corporates amassing disproportionate wealth, daily road rage killing, daily rape, abduction, kidnapping, murder, kids falling into open borewell, borewells running dry, defunct police force, farmers committing suicide. There is a genuine trust deficit that plagues our daily lives…… At a time when other nations are exploring mars and looking at how mankind can overcome oddities which will for sure befalls us in the near future, we as a nation are taking rapid steps back to the dark ages. The country seems to be deep diving into anarchy … we can ill afford a civil war at this time, stop communal violence!!