Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Home No More


The bus stop is still the same
The yellow striped black bench,
The banyan tree that looks older than earth…
A pot hole right in the middle of the footpath
The shack still has a Char Minar cigarette adage on it.
The shrill voice of the anorexic conductor- has not changed a bit.
The breeze sharply  smells of Gonga.
I was home.

The hand- which clutched mine, in a busy traffic street. Has changed.
Eyes that spotted the first Krishnochura for me- indifferent.
The endless addas on the yellow striped bench- bygone.
The false step on the pot hole-not cared for.
The anger which followed every Char Minar I smoked- absent.
The laughter that caricatured shrill conductors- vanished.
Gonga was a mere river- offering cold hug.
Home was exile.