Dassera din

gods,
goddesses,
humans,
an imagination of blood
in a geography of heavens,
peace in ICUs,
brain dead....
'nothing to worry,
patient will be shortly shifted to
general ward,' say doctors......

A fast goes viral. Under a banyan hacked of nests and birds, leaves and roots,  an old man going by the name of Gandhi, sat on bare earth, bald head down over a charkha; the still centre and bald head timed the going round and round of the charkha; hippi moments, hippi times in Vaikunt; Gandhi was on a peace protest protesting Durga intention to perform the killing of Mahishasura on Dassera; 'every Dussera you come Lady and every Dussera has a Mahishasura; why not have peace chats in some neutral Heaven,' mumbled a broken-tongued Gandhi glued to an Camusian uncertainty, hippi camraderie; too many fasts had gone waste; and Gandhi was yet again unsure with Durga serious about the killing; but even gods could not broom Gandhi; so they opened peace talks; 'Dassera is a holy day; you gods who write our fates can sure edit a change for a handshake, a sharing of rossagullas; Satyajit Ray thought it in Goopy Gayen, Bagha Bayen; he ensured peace with rosogullas falling from blue skies; a camera shot capturing rosogullas....achcha laga'; Goopy Gayen was the only film Gandhi went to Lighthouse in Calcutta to watch with tickets bought by industrialist friends. Across sat Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva with Ram acting the concierge; the talks spun without an axis; in Vaikuntam everything is possible including a Gandhi fast, Gandhi on a charkha. Add a few or minus a few adjectives and prayers, but Rama turned spongy with his old devotee; perhaps, Rama loved Gandhi more than Sita; 'we gods are fated and wars are etched; Durga has to go; a resting Durga may not be better than a warring Lady,' Ram said in private. Then came the peace offer. 'We will not kill if Mahishasura eats Durga prasad,' Rama downed the proposal on the floor; Mahishasura was not for prasad; he wanted a muddy pond and grass to wade in quiet; thats what Mahish or buffalos yearn for. Crows silent. Flowers off stems. Clouds dropped skies; a Tadoba forest stillness. Gandhi and gods went to war; Gandhi refused war; intoned Ram, Ram; Durga was getting late for Dassera; Ram fixed flowers and fruits to arrow tips, shot; some hit the khadi charka, some off target; a chuckling Gandhi with Sita, backing the old man, said: Your husband arrows like the Indian archery team at Rio Olympics'; Sita clapped and clapped; only Gandhi could size down Ram. Gandhi's head rested on the unbroken charkha when public Twittered: Ram does away with Gandhi; Gandhi alive, being tended to by Sita; fasting Gandhi down with peace dengu. A Human Rights team missed Gandhi; Kasturba with plates of dhokla spotted Gandhi rolling the charkha, inducting Sita into khadi with thready laughs. Twitterati in gluey glee: Magsasay for Durga; Nobel for Ram. Ba offered Gandhi bangles; old man wore it; presented a khadi garland to Ba ... distributed dhokla to Durga and Ram and Mahishasura ... in and off Heavens, sounds of war on peace were on....Dassera din ......