As I sat

As I sat on a chair

At a corner of the street,

Sector 29, Vashi, Navi Mumbai:

Raindrops drizzled down

Like the songs of mother.

First the humming,

Slowly sweeping,

Beats growing,

Louder

And louder;

But never harsh.

Gentle leaves and flowers of Gulmohar

swinging in the wind

adding to the symphony.

Occasional lightning

Reminded me of her laughter,

Red-ribboned maiden girl

Far away in the Western Ghats.

When the pitch waned,

Small onion pakoras faded away

From the surface of a piece of paper

And when I sipped tea

From the mouth of an earthen cup,

The music had left the earth;

Only reverberating

In the wet air around my face.

I dropped the empty cup on the ground,

A thud

And the paper napkin flew away from my hand

Fell squarely on the cup:

A corpse covered in white cloth.

Then I left my chair

At the corner of that street.