since short trouser years
he knows each dash of grass,
dot of dust in the playground;
high-kicked footballs, lost them.
dropped from the game, old and unsteady,
watches kids scoring goals.



...........


makar sankranti.
til gud crowds shops;
jaggery hems talk;
a blue sky offers kite rides
for shreya and chiyu.
grandma, grandpa never flew kites.

silent playground.
comimgs and goings of children.
salt and sugar laughter.

..............


every third day
grandpa is at the cycle repair shop.
shreya and chiyu fly mended cycles.
grandpa never cycled.


...........

warm december in mumbai.
dawning orange, new year stumbles
on a drunk moon.
koyals chuckle over a woman violated.
cheques signed, cash in bank, wait.
never in him to snip hibiscus for gods.
some regrets making it from
calcutta to kolkata; bombay to mumbai.
a nameplate alteration.
an ancientness damps the air.
january is cold.
hunched around wood fires at street corners
poor shuffle sipping steaming tea.

a dethreaded brahmin haunts
temple, church,dargah beside roads.
candles the wintry morning,
offers a chaddar at the dargah,
a coconut to ganesa.
the effort fatigues, forgets the favours.