Nikaah to Naqaash

(1) We were two souls, and our destinies were pre-destined, Providence brought us together, first on the social media, and then on to our Nikaah night, A rainy April Nikaah night; (2) Soon Spring would welcome us as it does for lovebirds, A love-slumber would lull us into a trance – till dawn; In all […]

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Ruminating upon a Reverie

Soon after dusk, my heart began to settle down, and by nightfall, my heart overpowered me; Pre-Dawn – Two kisses suddenly wake me up, Only to find your shadow asleep beside me, Then – on the adjacent wall, I couldn’t see my reflection, I felt myself without a soul; Remember – The previous night I […]

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Paradoxes

Tolstoy didn’t possess the chiseled features of an aristocrat, Once upon a time there were two hearts and they didn’t live happily ever after, Minors are raped and sometimes rapists are minors – so they go scot-free, The bride was enjoying vermicelli with the vermilion on her forehead, Prostitutes are virgins the following night, In […]

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Guwahati Diaries

(1) I now live in a city: A city that sleeps and sleeps and sleeps, Even Mumbai is a city that now sleeps; (2) I now live in a city: Where the only pollution is the pollution of silence, Where even eeriness is hush-hush now; (3) I now live in a city: Where people stand […]

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Procrastination

(1) Dawn – reluctant: The big orange ball of fire was playing hide-and-seek; (2) Overcast skies: The big orange ball of fire was still playing hide-and-seek; (3) Dusk – reluctant: The big orange ball of fire was playing hide-and-seek – again; (4) Sunny skies: The big orange ball of fire wasn’t playing hide-and-seek; (5) Draped […]

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She

(1) In a hamlet far away from the city: A hut – She – What was she like? (2) What was she like? She – She was stroking her hair, Her hair was long and black, Her hair plunged over her shoulders, Her locks were braided with bright ribbons, Why? – To keep the stiff […]

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Variegated visions

(1) I kissed a mermaid on land, Then – later, In her aquatic paradise, She reciprocates it; (2) I see a mystic sit on a cactus pot and smile, I see locked Mosques and Churches even on Fridays and Sundays – so too are the Temple doors and naamghars, I see a crowd hurl stones […]

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