Anhad ka Baaja

On the morning after The morning after the muhurtham I get up to find The lights blazing The chandeliers twinkling The a/c cooling the empty hall The gates are locked And there is no ee-kaka Nothing

Consciences are passé No one wrestles with them any more

I step out and Startle a peacock On the roof It flies off Dislodging a tile Which shatters On the ground What a striking tail! Were it a monkey Would I have been  So indulgent?

Don’t take the name of Big Brother in vain Even saying Annachi or Bhayya is Skin in the game The game is one of Cat and Mouse Where the cats are all powerful and in control of the House The mice are

Pack the percolator With coffee podi In readiness for when the milkman arrives The long wait for the milk Punctuated by impatient miaows From the cats The milk arrives Some polite conversation With

Big Brother’s Chelas Have scored an own-goal Big Brother’s Chelas Have dug themselves a hole From which they are  Trying to climb out By digging deeper in With a scowl and a pout A film among