Skip to main content

The Migrant

By

Knock knock! Is someone on the other side of air?
For the air is viscous and the image ain’t clear.
The sea is far away and nowhere to be seen,
Buildings are all same as the city of my teen.
Oh and I am not old but twenty or so—
But after days at work I have been feeling so.
Not distant passes a train honking the horn,
Very much the same in the city I was born—
Wherefrom I set for this journey with teary eyes
Parting hands with dearly crafted friendly ties.

Knock knock! I still am talking to you
Of all strangers I have met under this blue.
I have seen the roads, the rises, the deeps,
The frocks, the coats, the blazers, the sleeves,
Cats and cows and canines perching the streets,
And the wet wind blowing away my bleats—
All was well and friendly and known 
The same as the city where so long I had grown.
Oh but different men! Incomprehensible and dull—
Pale faces unravelling like storm after a lull. 

Knock knock! I hope you are still there
Listening to my whines with all your care,
Hold me still, for this mist now engulfs me
Like that which I saw outside my first flight’s glee—
That which brought me far from home
To this life very unlike I made ideal at home:
A mansion, a maid and a mate, rich food on my plate,
Fresh scent of the grass, washed by sea near my gate.
But where have you gone now that my eyes are clear?
Guess there was no one on the other side but air.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Experience with UPSC + "Strategy": Part I

By
So, I have been ranked 507 at an all-India level in the prestigious UPSC Civil Services Examination of the year 2020. I was 23 when I filled the form and this was my second attempt. I registered under the EWS category. There are 506 individuals ahead of me and over 200 behind me. There are countless others who were not selected. I have met many of them and even talked to a few. One thing that I have always noted is the very feeble difference among them. Every one of them deserves to be in the service, and many of them really are, I believe, unofficially in the service of the nation. Yet, a lot many are not selected. Others have not been judged the way I would have judged them! With all due respect, luck has played a huge role in my selection. (My selection is yet not final. Due to some problem of certification, my candidature remains provisional at this point of time. If not resolved, I will not be recommended by the Commission.) Now, talking about the things that were in my contro...
17 comments
Read more

This City Called Imphal

By
                It’s been such a long time since I last typed. It is as if the comfort of the room is not enough to write here – it requires the winter to invade my skin, the midnight gibbous moon to show me the words – for me to hit the keyboard with eyes closed, like a pianist’s fingers dancing. Anyway, there cannot be a better time to reflect than the New Year’s Day. Life has been such that every post on the blog has a feel of “everything has changed so much”. This post comes at a time of another big shift – I have moved to Imphal for my district training. This is the first touch with the field and the first instance of application of theory. It has been almost three weeks and the name “Imphal” has slowly started to sound familiar. This post is only about the first few meters in this miles-long journey. A Change of Home Moving to a new place can never be a good experience. Here is something that I wrote during one of the boring lectures r...
3 comments
Read more

How's It Goin?

By
          The life under training leaves little time to sit back and think, lest write about it. You end your day in your bed with a pillow against the wall, light a tiny flame on a candle and let the static of the room invade you. More often than not, there is soft music playing on the Alexa. Books are staring like skulls on the shelf. The nine brief months have left the room strangely foreign – a temporary space between the four walls – you spent too little time there to make it your own but it is the centre of your existence. The need for introspection often overtakes you but you feel it only in the form of exasperation and an evening of depression. You sigh audibly and some of that which is clogging your nerves washes away. Some good things shine. Running calms you. You often try to find someone to go on a run with but you mostly run alone. There is nothing new to that. But you are running more now, and faster. It is one of the things the Academy has done ...
2 comments
Read more